Dallas Cowboys

Why are Jerry Jones, Cowboys standing pat this offseason?

Published Apr. 1, 2022 3:37 p.m. ET

Is it possible that the Dallas Cowboys are scared to make a move this offseason because they're not scared of the competition come the regular season?

Jerry Jones' franchise has been surprisingly quiet on the free-agent market this offseason, causing many to wonder if the Cowboys' plan is to stand pat going into next season.

One 'Boys fan decided to pose the question to Skip Bayless on "The Skip Bayless Show," and the host and longtime Cowboys fan had a unique take on Dallas' lack of movement: Why make a move when you are guaranteed to win your division?

Why haven't the Cowboys made any major moves this offseason? Skip answers

Skip Bayless answers a listener question regarding the Dallas Cowboys and why they've been so inactive this NFL offseason.

"My Cowboys currently get to play in the NFC, and especially in the NFC East. That's why Jerry Jones feels zero urgency, zero pressure, zero heat to fire himself and hire a real GM," Bayless said.

Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989 and has served as the general manager since. And in a little over three decades, Dallas has won the NFC East 12 times, including four of the last eight seasons.

The Cowboys won the division going away last season, finishing 6-0. Philadelphia finished second at 3-3, Washington third at 2-4, and the New York Giants fourth at 1-5.

And with that, Bayless feels Jones is fine with standing pat considering the NFC East should be theirs to lose once again.

"These are the quarterbacks that Jerry Jones is quote-unquote ‘scared of’ as we speak," Bayless said. "These are the ones that stand between Jerry Jones and yet another home playoff game by winning the NFC East: Carson ‘Wince,’ Daniel Jones and a young man I do really like in Jalen Hurts. But trust me, Jerry Jones is not afraid of Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles."

As Bayless mentioned, the biggest acquisition in the division is the Washington Commanders landing former Eagles QB Carson Wentz as their new starting QB.

And though Wentz doesn't strike fear in Bayless' heart, Skip still fears that Jones made a mistake when locking down his franchise QB.

"Jerry made one huge mistake that he hasn't had to pay for: He gave Dak Prescott way too much money — $75 million in the first year — because he got backed into a corner," Bayless said.

"You can't dramatically overpay a fourth-round pick and hope he would play like the fourth overall pick. He's just not. He's pretty good. But you saw what happened down the stretch: The last 11 games, my Cowboys went 6-5. And Dak stunk and stunk and stunk again. He stunk in a home playoff game against the 49ers."

After winning five of their first six games last season, the Cowboys indeed played around .500 ball for the remainder of the season, including a 23-17 home loss to San Francisco in the NFC wild-card playoffs.

Over the last 11 games, Prescott completed 65% of his passes, racking up 2,890 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He posted a 95.2 passer rating, was sacked 26 times and lost three fumbles.

This offseason, the Cowboys haven't signed any huge-name free agents, instead choosing to run it back with most of their core from last season, sans Amari Cooper and Randy Gregory — much to the chagrin of Bayless.

"My Cowboys are cap-strapped because they are Dak-strapped," Bayless said. "I sit on ‘Undisputed’ every day and I beat the table. ‘Jerry, wake up! You’ve got to do something!' You know what Jerry's answer is? ‘I don’t need to do anything. I'm gonna have a home playoff game next year.' And he probably will.

"And they'll certainly lose it."