Philadelphia Eagles: Jerry Jones is a master of the news cycle

While Jerry Jones doesn’t typically get many props from Philadelphia Eagles fans, his ability to dominate a news cycle is second to none.

As a Philadelphia Eagles fan, I’m not the biggest fan of Jerry Jones.

I don’t hate Jones per se, which in and of itself is a borderline radical position for a fan from the greater Philadelphia area, but as a general rule, my (sports) world is typically better when the Eagles sit atop the NFC East.

That being said, I’m not above giving credit where credit is due and if anyone deserves credit for their ability to truly dominate a news cycle, it’s Jerry Jones.

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In case you haven’t noticed, the Dallas Cowboys have been among the most talked-about teams in the NFL – maybe in sports in general – in 2020 despite not having played a game since December 29th. From rumors about the team’s once-vacant head coaching search, to their comings and goings of free agency, and eventually, for having arguably the best haul in the entire 2020 NFL Draft, Jones’ team’s name has continuously remained in the news and on the lips of pundits the world over.

Why would Jones give CeeDee Lamb Michael Irvin (and Dez Bryant)’s number (88) if he didn’t want people to talk about it?

But nothing, nothing, compares to Jones’ latest round of free advertising: The decision to sign Andy Dalton.

I know, right? Who knew Dalton, who has won all of 20 games over the last four seasons, was even capable of generating hundreds of headlines, think pieces, and segments on sports talk radio? Joe Burrow may be the new face of the Cincinnati Bengals, but his predecessor’s decision to sign a deal worth up to $7 million would generate so much press coverage?

Heck, all of the segments ESPN has run on Dalton’s decision to play the 2020 NFL season close to home has probably paid for his contract many times over in the form of free advertising; no wonder the Cowboys are the most valuable brand in professional sports.

Now to be fair, Philly can’t really gloat too hard about a team getting a ton of attention for acquiring a backup quarterback, as, ya know, Jalen Hurts, but only a handful of said opinionists actually believe Carson Wentz won’t be the Eagles’ quarterback in 2020.

That is not the case for Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.

With opinions ranging from ‘Dalton won’t start a game‘, to ‘Dak is done in Big D’, seemingly everyone has a take on who will start for Dallas Week 1, in Week 16, and Week 1 of the 2021 season and believe me, they want you to hear/read it.

See what I mean? Regardless of your opinion on the subject, you have to give props to Jones for keeping people talking about his team into the month of May out of a sheer, relentless desire to be the center of attention.

When he could have signed Prescott to a long-term deal, a deal that was reportedly pretty close to getting done, he instead kept the door open for speculation on the position moving forward. Signing Dalton only furthers that narrative until/if a long-term deal is reached with the team’s ironman starting quarterback.

If Prescott ultimately opts to sign his franchise tag, which probably won’t happen for quite some time, this very same story may persist into the fall, winter, and spring.

Next. Andy Dalton doesn’t pose a threat. dark

Look, I’m guilty of it too. In a weird way, by pointing out that ‘Jerry Jones is a master of the news cycle‘ I am effectively giving Jones free news coverage and adding another brick to the Cowboys’ digital clout, but in a weird way, doesn’t that make his moves even more brilliant? The Philadelphia Eagles’ great southern rivals have built a self-perpetuating hype machine that is borderline unstoppable at this point. I guess we really do live in ‘Jerry World’.

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