See what Jones told The Fan below.
Question: “The finished [Cowboys] product could look different for a whole lot of reasons, I was thinking about Tuesday and the fallout from the presser. What do you think about the fans and media having consistent interest in players who aren’t on the team, but could be, as opposed to the players that are actually here?”
Stephen Jones: “I think that’s the great thing about professional sports, ultimately what will the finished product look like? And it doesn’t matter whether it’s basketball, whether it’s hockey, whether it’s baseball, everybody’s always striving, especially if you’re fortunate enough to get to that level, or you have a lot of the pieces but you might be missing a piece, which is usually the case with a lot of teams. You can always use that last one or two pieces that put you over the top, and certainly we’re always looking for that. We’re constantly looking for ways to be better.
“I’ve always said it, player acquisition is 365 days a year. We need to always be looking for something that makes sense to make the Dallas Cowboys a better football team and give us the opportunity to contend and ultimately win a championship. That’s every team’s goal, that’s certainly our goal, we certainly know our fans are looking for that. It’s been way too long. And we do think, as you mentioned, the offense has checked a lot of boxes in terms of being there. Defensively, we don’t know that we’ve checked all the boxes, but we constantly look to check another box.”
Q: “When I see Dr. Daniel Cooper, who I know is part of the Cowboys but was also part of the evaluation of [Maxx Crosby], I start to connect dots and wonder, was that part of a conversation?”
Jones: “Well we’re always looking at things, I mean that’s just part of it. We don’t need to be talking and putting names [laughs]. You did better than the reporter the other day. I like Jane, but she’s trying to get us in trouble I think.
“But anyway, I think we’re always looking at situations. I think we’ve got several things that we’re considering right now, some of it trades, some of it signing guys, because a lot of these older players who still got some tread on the tires can come in here in help you. It may come in the form of a trade, it may come in the form of a veteran signing as you move into camp, because a lot of these veteran players don’t like to go to the first part of training camp, so.
Q: “It’s not tampering if that player isn’t under contract, right?”
Jones: [laughs] No it’s not.
Q: “So if I said ‘Man I sure do think Bobby Wagner has a lot of tread left on the tires…’ What would you think about that?”
Jones: “I mean, obviously Bobby Wagner’s a great player. There’s several others out there who haven’t signed who have a great resume. And there are always guys that we’re looking [at] and seeing how they fit. We’re getting a better feel from a personnel standpoint, Will [McClay] is, his staff, i]n terms of the trades we want, that can step in and really make a difference in Christian Parker’s system. So those are all things that we’ll continue to look to be better, you know, I’d be surprised if the starting players on this defense don’t change over time and we’re always looking to be better and we’ll continue to monitor this.”