Jerry Jones didn’t exactly hide the fact that the Cowboys are looking around the NFL for ideas, and the team catching his eye right now is the Los Angeles Rams.
From Oxnard, Jones pointed to the Rams as the kind of aggressive, all-in operation he thinks still works in this league. That’s notable because the Rams, while five seasons removed from their Super Bowl win, are still very much in win-now mode after reaching the NFL Championship last season and falling to the eventual champion Seattle Seahawks.
Jones made clear that it’s the Rams’ approach - not necessarily their trophy case - that has his attention.
“You look at them, and see, maybe there's a way more aggression to work, being more aggressive than you have been, that works in this era,” Jones said. “You look at that as a model for that.”
The Rams have leaned hard into that philosophy since their 2022 title run, a stretch that started with the bold quarterback swap of Jared Goff for Matt Stafford. This offseason, they kept pushing, trading for reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett and adding cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson to reshape the secondary.
“I admired the job that the Rams have done and how they've done it,” he said. “That swapping quarterbacks was gutsy.
And so they've done it. They've done it.
“Yes, I admire the way they have put teams together, and the way they have competed and sustained the competition.”
That kind of aggressiveness is clearly on Jones’ mind as the Cowboys keep weighing their own options. Dallas made a major move in the opposite direction last year by dealing Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on the eve of the season. Even now, rumors around Maxx Crosby continue to circulate, though he remains with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jones didn’t rule out another swing if the right opportunity presents itself.
“There's no way that I would do anything that would delay until next year or the next year to try to get to a Super Bowl this year,” Jones said, expressing his urgency to make something happen. “I feel that good about what we're starting with.
“That it kind of alludes over to what we were talking about, if a trade or something like that came along, we certainly can think about, as far as my focus, my individual focus is concerned.”
The Cowboys and Rams are set to practice together on Aug. 11, which will give Jones a closer look at the team he’s holding up as a model. And if nothing else, it should sharpen the question hanging over Dallas: how much more aggressive does this roster still need to be?
“Like any team in any given year, even in years where we won Super Bowl, you're looking for ways to improve,” he said. “As you go through training camp into the preseason and then ultimately into the season, you're always looking for ways to make your team better.”
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