ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones was on hand at AT&T Stadium on Wednesday morning to announce the return of the Professional Bull Riding (PBR) World Finals to the home of the Cowboys in May 2024.This comes amid an offseason that has seen the Cowboys let key pieces from seasons past walk while also bringing in established veterans to improve the talent on both sides of the ball.
With the draft, schedule release and rookie mini-camp in the rearview and OTAs and training camp slowly beginning to approach, Jones caught up with the media to discuss the latest from inside the building.
* Schedule Thoughts:* Cowboys received their full 2023 schedule last Thursday, and one game caught Jones' attention from first glance until now. "Buffalo in December," Jones said. "He took away and then he gave back with a good date in Miami. Obviously that's a great home-field advantage for the Bills, especially in the winter. They're a great football team and that's obviously more than likely going to be pretty cold."
* On the offseason moves:*There was a lot of movement on both sides of the ball as well as on the coaching staff this offseason, but Jones feels like it has all led to the Cowboys putting a better product forward in 2023.
"We think we have a better football team," Jones said. "We think we did the right things leading into the draft which is key for us. This year a little more so than in the past with the two trades for Gilmore and Cooks. We fixed things that needed help, so that was a big deal for us. Then being able to go into the draft and take the best player."
* O-Line Depth:*Many expected the Cowboys to address the offensive line hole earlier in the draft than they did, but Jones feels comfortable about the bodies in the room."Obviously, we were looking at offensive line [in the draft], but with Chuma [Edoga] we've done some work there. We obviously feel good. Our top five linemen are our top five linemen. Tyron Smith, Tyler Smith, [Tyler] Biadasz, [Terence] Steele and Zack [Martin]. We really felt like that if we're gonna get your best five guys that have played in this league, that those are your best five. We'll see what happens from there."
The left guard position is the biggest point of interest, and along with Terence Steele, Jones sees a few guys competing for that starting job.
"I think we have a talented group of linemen," he said. "Josh Ball will certainly get an opportunity to compete for that spot, we're big fans of Chuma and this staff has done a lot of work on him. We really feel like he can come in there and help, and then we'll see how these rookies can do, especially Asim [Richards]. It's a great opportunity for him. He's a young guy, long and we liked what we saw out there in mini-camp."
* Adding More Pieces:*Whether it be on the offensive line, adding competition at linebacker or looking closer at the kicker situation, Jones is comfortable moving forward with the pieces on the roster.
"We always look to improve our football team, but we feel really good about where we are," he said. "We never rule out a chance to improve ourselves. If there is such a thing, kicker is certainly one that we will continue to look at options there. As far as anything other than the kicker situation, we just look for anything that will improve our football team."
* Micah's Postion Flex:*Micah Parsons generated headlines earlier this month by saying that he would be moving to defensive end full-time, but Dan Quinn told reporters over the weekend that it will be no different than the hybrid role that he has gotten accustomed to. For Jones, he sees his versatility in the same sense.
"Micah is a great player, he's a great defensive football player," he said. "Whether he's making 10 sacks a year at linebacker or at defensive end, I don't think there's a big difference. He's so versatile. Micah is kind of a hybrid player, it's what makes him great."
