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Jerry Jones Quitting As GM of the Cowboys Quote Key To Media Machine

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nathan Karseno | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 2:33 PM ET

The Dallas Cowboys hosted their annual state-of-the-union address to begin Oxnard training camp on Monday, and in typical fashion, quotes from owners Jerry and Stephen Jones made waves on the internet.

It was clear this press conference was tailored to business off the field, as new head coach Brian Schottenheimer looked on while the Joneses discussed hot topics like contract situations and injuries for guys like Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs.

There was an occasional football question, but there will be plenty of football talk to come.

This stage - which our Mike Fisher calls the "Jerry's Annual Glory Hole Press Conference'' due to an infamous offcolor quote/oil-and-gas reference from the boss in this setting years ago - was all for Jerry, and he did not disappoint in charging the Cowboys' high-powered media machine.

As owner and general manager, Jones detailed that he is in a unique position compared to his peers around the NFL in that he can have his fingerprints on nearly every area of the organization. After assuming his roles in 1989, the now-82-year-old has done well in many ways, winning three Super Bowls and building the operation into the most valuable ($10 billion) and recognizable sports brand in the world.

This wasn't easy. And it certainly hasn't gotten any more so as Jones continues to age right alongside the team's nearly 30-year drought of making the NFC Championship Game.

So, when the question was posed about stepping down as general manager, Jerry was honest.

"Yes, momentary," Jones said about considering that decision.

But, as you might expect, those thoughts didn't last long.

For how long?

"Small fractions of seconds.''

There has long been a clamoring for Jerry to take a lesser-than-GM-level role as he's gotten older, but we've already seen how he doesn't operate like typical GMs.

Stephen mentioned in Monday's presser that he is the one who talks to agents during contract negotiations, not Jerry. Will McClay is the one running the show in the scouting and player personnel departments, not Jerry.

But in the end, nothing gets done without his nod of approval, which could be in part why he's stuck around.

Additionally, Jerry knows that he plays a key role in the team's notoriety - for better or worse - and the savvy business man knows better than to mess with the Cowboys' success in that area.

And even though the football product has not reached the same pedestal as Jerry's earlier teams, the billionaire owner candidly remembers that he's "gave everything in my life and probably exposed 2 or 3 times to get to sit up here."

He maintains the dream of winning another Super Bowl, one risk - and one colorful quote - at a time.

He continued about not settled for a life of retirement.

"Personally, I don't have any problem justifying when somebody says, 'Well, do it differently. Why don't you just watch it on TV?' I don't have to,'' he said.

"I paid too high a price in my mind for doing what I'm doing, and I'm ready to do it again, and I'm ready to walk up here and get that trophy, if we could possibly get it. So that's a long-winded way of saying, it doesn't daunt me at all to sit here and face the music. This isn't music."

Still, with Jerry in charge - and never any sincere consideration of quitting - the same song and dance will continue playing on.

And it will continue reverberating across the NFL landscape, with the owner feeding the hungry media machine ... which, in another part, is exactly the point.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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