In the same moment that the Dallas Cowboys started training camp on Tuesday with no players on the PUP list and no major offseason drama to speak of, owner Jerry Jones declared he would absolutely not be the 1 to bring the drama to the party.
“I like the mood,” Jones said while speaking to the media in Oxnard, California. “I don’t plan on doing anything here to stir things up.”
In the same breath as Jones said that, he decided to stir things up.
“Jerry Jones said he would be willing to ‘give up the future,’ to add a big-time player to the roster because of how good he feels about this team at the moment,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote on X on Tuesday. “Said he had a conversation with an owner as recent as Monday.”
If there’s 1 thing we should know about Jones after almost 40 years as the owner of the Cowboys, the most valuable sports franchise in the world, it’s that he will never hesitate to bring the drama.
Archer also pressed Jones, 83, on whether he was feeling pressure in 2026.
The Cowboys haven’t even played in the NFC Championship Game since the last time they won a Super Bowl following the 1995 season.
“Yes,” Jones told Archer. “Yes, I do for all the obvious reasons. We’ve got certain things in place here that might not stay in place.”
If the Cowboys are looking to make a trade, they might be looking to obtain an outside cornerback, edge rusher or inside linebacker — by far the team’s 3 weakest position groups.
Cowboys’ Blockbuster Trade Sank 2025 Season
The Cowboys went 7-9-1 in 2025 and missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season despite having the NFL’s best offense — a direct result of them having the NFL’s very worst defense.
That was a direct result of Jones trading away a generational talent in perennial NFL All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons after an offseason of messy, hostile contract negotiations, shipping him off to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for 2 1st-round picks.
Parsons didn’t even finish the season, tearing his ACL in Week 15.
Cowboys Revamped Defense in Offseason
Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski gave the Cowboys one of the highest offseason grades for any NFL team, handing them an “A-” following free agency, the NFL draft, and a couple of firings and hirings on the coaching staff.
“The Dallas Cowboys have done a respectable job bouncing back from last year’s disastrous Micah Parsons trade,” Sobleski wrote on Monday. “First, the organization decided coaching staff changes were necessary to improve the league’s worst defense. Christian Parker is now the squad’s defensive coordinator, and he brings a far different approach than the team’s previous play-caller, Matt Eberflus. The team also traded away defensive linemen Osa Odighizuwa, Mazi Smith, and Solomon Thomas. Instead, Dallas brought in Rashan Gary, Otito Ogbonnia, and first-rounder Malachi Lawrence to go along with Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, and Donovan Ezeiruaku, who were added last year. The Cowboys also made the move of draft weekend by trading up one pick to land No. 1-ranked prospect, Caleb Downs, and pair him with the free-agent signing of Jalen Thompson. Dallas could have improved at cornerback, though. Finally, the Cowboys made sure to retain wide receiver George Pickens and running back Javonte Williams to keep the league’s second-ranked offense intact.”
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Hints Blockbuster Trade in Works