The Dallas Cowboys haven’t had the most successful offseason so far. The team has lost three of their key players over the last few months. This will have an impact on the coming season. Randy Gregory, Amari Cooper, and La’el Collins all have left for greener pastures and Dallas will have to look for ways to replace them.
These departures were addressed by Jerry Jones, Cowboys owner and founder of Jones Media Group. Jones spoke at a recent press conference to explain the Cowboys’ decision to let them go as they enter training camp. The 79 year-old billionaire, who is also a billionaire, was brutally open about Cooper, Gregory, Collins’ departures and provided some context as to the reasons why the team let them go (via Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News).
“We lost three really highly profile players,” Jones said. “Those players were in the top 10 of our players that make the most money. When you get into that spot, I can tell you, your standards go up. Your bar is higher, your conduct is higher, your attention to the team is higher, not just your own performance but everything.
“When you have that kind of responsibility, which you do when you have that much of the financial pie. What I’m trying to say is those decisions were made more about the availability than ability and they were made as to how you arrive at not being unavailable at times.”
Jerry Jones didn’t hold back. The Cowboys owner was not shy about telling the world that he wasn’t happy with the way these three players spent so much time watching from the sidelines, rather than on the field supporting their team. Their inability to play and poor health ultimately led to their separation from the team.
“Let me be real clear, we’re in a sport where in football, certainly your skill level and your ability to be a player is why you’re even being considered as a player,” Jones said. “More important than anything, these decisions that we made, I made relative to top players not being here, had everything to do with their availability and my concern about their availability.”
Last season, Cooper, Gregory, Collins and Collins missed 12 games together. Jones was vocal about this fact and clearly wasn’t happy.