'All In' Cowboys Have Re-Signed A Long Snapper, So What's The Truth About Their Promise?

Maybe Jerry Jones has some masterful and stunning surprise that he'll unveil for everyone when the NFL's new league year starts at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Maybe he'll show us he spent the past few weeks extending quarterback Dak Prescott's contract, locking up defensive anchor Micah Parsons for years, and doing the same with WR1 CeeDee Lamb. Maybe the Dallas Cowboys owner, general manager and wonderful money-making mastermind, will do all this work in time for the Cowboys to enter free agency as cowboys should:

With guns ablazin'.

Dak Prescott's earliest return date is late October. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

A Long Snapper Rather Than Prescott Deal

We're looking for this, waiting for this, wanting this, because Jones seemingly promised this.

You should know that at the Senior Bowl, Jones told reporters the Cowboys would be "all in" this year. That this coming year he was "not building for the future."

That made Cowboys fans believe Jones would be throwing caution to the proverbial wind and there would be fireworks in free agency. Because it sounded like he wanted to win today and dadgum tomorrow.

Well, the Cowboys during the free agency negotiating period that began Monday, re-signed Trent Sieg. 

The long snapper. 

To a modest one-year deal.

How 'bout them Cowboys?!?!?!

Texans Steal Thunder From Cowboys

This is a bad look for America's team.

Oh, yeah, speaking of America's team: The Cowboys aren't even looking like Texas's team right now.

The Houston Texans went further than the Cowboys last season – because they actually won a playoff game. And the Texans have continued that momentum by so far upgrading at defensive end from 12.5-sack Jonathan Greenard to 16.5-sack Danielle Hunter, trading for running back Joe Mixon, they've re-signed the most productive tight end in free agency by retaining Dalton Schultz, and they've poached defensive tackle Denico Autry and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair from division rival Tennessee.

That is as close to going all in as teams dare get in free agency. And the work has the added value that it wasn't telegraphed beforehand to raise everyone's expectations.

The Cowboys, on the other hand, raised expectations and have delivered practically nothing.

So this is where any national perspective column would typically go this direction: Jerry Jones bad!

Jerry Jones ordered to take paternity test. (Credit: Getty Images)

Jerry Jones Context Matters

Except, this national perspective column isn't dumb. And isn't going to follow the herd. So, rather than ripping Jones a new one for actually not being "all in," let's dig into his full comments that haven't survived the ESPN or NFL Network editing room and been cut from most Cowboys discussions.

This is the full quote of what Jones actually told reporters:

"I would anticipate, with looking ahead at our key contracts that we'd like to address, we'll be all in," Jones said. "I anticipate we'll be all in at the end of this year.

"It will be going all in on different people than you've done in the past. We'll be going all in. We've seen some things out of some of the players that we want to be all in on. And, yes, I would say that you would see us this coming year not building for the future is the best way I know how to say it."

Wait a sec. That doesn't really sound like "all in" means go bonkers in free agency. 

That actually sounds like Jones has either seen enough from his current players to go all in on them, which suggests new deals for them but not too much roster movement. Or he's seen enough from his current players, and he's going to do nothing about locking them up because he's not building for the future.

I don't know what exactly he means. I don't speak billionaire.

Shots Fired At Cowboys

But the educated guess is Jones will be doing the former. I mean, how could he not extend Prescott? How could he not lock up Parsons to avoid the price rising, which he must know it always does.

It should be noted that whatever Jones meant and is doing so far has been met with disapproval from inside his own tent.

No less than Dak Prescott's brother, Tad Prescott, took a shot at the Cowboys front office – run by Jones – on social media. Prescott praised the Eagles front office as "the best" after they added Saquon Barkley, a running back many Dallas fans wanted their team to sign. 

The Cowboys not only haven't added a running back, they lost Tony Pollard to the Titans even though he was willing to give the Cowboys what a source called,  "discount terms."

The Cowboys also seem poised to lose left tackle Tyron Smith and cornerback Stephon Gilmore. 

It's going to look ugly unless Jones somehow twists the words that the media apparently has already twisted to mean what everyone thinks to begin with – that the Cowboys truly are about to be "all in."