Jerry Jones has repeatedly insisted that the Dallas Cowboys couldn’t afford to sign running back Derrick Henry this offseason.
Through the season’s first three weeks it is becoming evident that signing free agent Ezekiel Elliott was a half-measure in the backfield and it is easy to suggest that Henry may have proven to be a legitimate difference maker on an offense that suddenly finds itself mired in inconsistency and seeking an identity.
After losing to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3, Jones was once again forced to confront the uncomfortable Henry situation after the running back ran roughshod for a season-high 151 yards with two rushing touchdowns in a 28-25 win.
“Part of what you would’ve paid him is going to players we paid in the past,” Jones said during an appearance on 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas. “And part of what you would have paid him is going forward in the future. But had I thought that that position this year was gonna make that kind of difference, and that’s what you save your bucks for. But it’s too complicated to point to a player. There’s too much at stake when you look at the entire offense and you look at what we’re doing and what we’re trying to do with the run game as opposed to the passing game. That’s too complicated to dwell on the fact that we don’t have a given player on the team.”
Now that the Cowboys’ offense has underperformed for three weeks, it is worth wondering if Jones regrets how Dallas handled this offseason and Henry’s free agency played out.
Ex-NFL Agent Suggests Jerry Jones is ‘Gaslighting’ Dallas Cowboys Fans over Derrick Henry
Former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry offered a deep dive into the Cowboys missing out on Henry.
“Jones is gaslighting the Cowboys fan base again over Henry,” Corry claims, writing for CBS. “After proclaiming Dallas would be “all in” for the 2024 season, Jones dragged his feet on signing wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to contract extensions that ultimately freed up $9.251 million and $10,516,867 of 2024 salary cap room, respectively.
“Getting either one of these deals done on the same time frame as the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles did when making Landon Dickerson the NFL’s highest-paid offensive guard in March would have provided more than enough cap space to accommodate Henry. Baltimore’s 2024 cap number for Henry is $5.105 million, consisting of a $7.79 million signing bonus prorated over the two contract years and a $1.21 million base salary.
“Putting the delayed Lamb and Prescott signings aside, Dallas still could have worked through a tight salary cap situation to sign Henry. The same deal Henry got with the Ravens could have been done with a lower cap number.”
Henry ultimately signed a two-year deal worth $16 million with the Ravens, which shouldn’t have been prohibitive for the Cowboys, given Dallas’ cap situation entering the offseason.
In some ways, it is fair to wonder whether Jones and the Cowboys holding off on signing Prescott to an extension until after the likes of Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa each spent a moment in time as the NFL’s highest-paid player didn’t ultimately wind up costing them the chance to sign Henry or be more active in free agency.
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