G Fiume/Getty Images
One week after getting angry during a radio interview, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones went back on the airwaves to further bury himself and head coach Mike McCarthy for not knowing how they would have made use of Derrick Henry if he had signed with the team.
Appearing on 105.3 The Fan’s Shan & RJ (h/t The Athletic’s Jon Machota), Jones got ahead of the questions about Henry by saying the star running “didn’t fit” the Cowboys because of their cap situation and McCarthy doesn’t run the offense that is allowing the league’s leading rusher to succeed with the Baltimore Ravens.
This isn’t the first time Jones has had to defend the Cowboys’ lack of interest in Henry during the offseason. He said after Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns in Baltimore’s 28-25 win over Dallas in Week 3 that the Cowboys “couldn’t afford” the star running back.
“I don’t know,” Jones responded to a follow-up question asking why they couldn’t afford Henry. “Why can’t you buy a mansion when you live in a different kind of house? We couldn’t afford it. We can’t make that all fit. That’s as simple as that.”
Henry said on The Pivot podcast in April that Dallas would have been a “perfect situation” for him because he lives in Dallas and wouldn’t have had to move, but the Cowboys never called him or his agent (starts at 8:05 mark).
Jones doesn’t do himself any favors by continuing to talk about Henry. Even though the Cowboys were up against the cap last offseason, it’s not like Henry is making such a significant amount that he would have prevented them from doing anything else.
Henry signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the Ravens. He is counting $5.1 million against the cap this season. Trey Lance, who is listed as the No. 3 quarterback on the Cowboys’ depth chart, is making $5.3 million against the cap.
Even if Jones’ main point remains the Cowboys couldn’t afford to sign Henry, deciding to add in that he probably wouldn’t be as good in your system immediately makes one think about why McCarthy is still the coach if the owner doesn’t think he could figure out a way to make a special talent work for your team.
The Ravens’ infrastructure is objectively better than what Dallas has, but the owner of the Cowboys shouldn’t be saying something along those lines publicly while his team has stumbled to a 3-3 start.
Henry had another fantastic game for the Ravens on Monday night. He ran for 169 yards on 15 carries and caught a touchdown in a 41-31 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The four-time Pro Bowler has run for at least 100 yards in four of the last five games.
The Cowboys have been held under 100 rushing yards as a team in four of their last five games. Their single-game high of 109 yards in Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers would be the fifth-highest single-game total for Henry this season.
Dallas will look to get back on track coming out of its bye this week. The Cowboys will renew their rivalry with the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday Night Football.
Leave a Reply