DALLAS — It was yet another promising opportunity for the Dallas Cowboys to turn a 12-win season into the one that ended their ongoing Super Bowl drought but, alas, it was not to be; and the embarrassing loss against the Green Bay Packers created shockwaves that included owner and general manager Jerry Jones making a declaration.
"We'll be all in," he said.
It's been a cacophony of pressing questions ever since, from every area of NFL coverage, all wondering exactly what Jones means, but no one being able to answer it — Jones himself adding fuel to that fire in comments made from the 2024 NFL Combine on the topic.
"We will be working on different players and drafting different people," he said. "Just the very nature of it is different. Different people — we have different coaches. I think the attention that our nuances of where we are with the cap, the nuances of where we are with our position in the draft, the nuances of where we are with our free agents – we get that involved with the definition of being 'all in.'
"When you look at those aspects, we will be looking at every solution towards winning this year."
If that answer left you still without clarity, join the club. Time will reveal all, however, beginning as early as next week when the free agency spree gets underway, and Jones did also state the Cowboys were not adverse to making a big leap upwards (or backwards) in the 2024 NFL Draft.
For his part, All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott will simply let it all play out.
"I've heard that one," said the three-time Pro Bowler, speaking from a charity event for the Children's Cancer Fund in Dallas. "I'm excited to see it, honestly. I can't say that I've had talks with him on how he plans on making those moves, but I'm excited for it."
Prescott is currently a headline topic this offseason as he engages in his latest round of contract talks with the Cowboys — "definitely confident" that the deal will eventually get done — set to enter the final year of his current deal if a new one isn't agreed to.
And that also applies to head coach Mike McCarthy, who must now earn an extension based upon what occurs in 2024, the final year of his contract, and with no negotiations on an extension to take place before next season concludes.
The onus is on the Cowboys to truly prove they're pushing all of their chips to the middle of the table in 2024, but no one will have any clue what that looks like until the next several weeks are in the rearview mirror.
