Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants his legions of faithful fans to know one thing - he tried. Real hard. But unfortunately, they don't hand out medals for effort at the NFL draft, so despite Jerry's attempt, the Cowboys did not come away from the first stanza of the 2016 NFL Draft with former Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, as well as running back Ezekiel Elliott.
But he tried. Real hard. And he wants you to know he tried. Real hard.
"We were working real hard to get up there for the quarterback Paxton Lynch," Jones said early Friday, presumably while trying to count the number of running backs on his roster again (hint: it's four, Jerry).
Now, what this means is clear - the Cowboys are at least willing to entertain the notion that Life After Tony (LAF) is coming. It may not be for another two, three, four years, as Jones himself has suggested in the recent past, but Jones is aware that quarterback Tony Romo can't play forever and was at least willing to consider thinking about possibly taking an eventual heir to the Jerry World throne.
However, here's the thing - why would Jones admit to trying (again, real hard) to get Lynch after the fact? Is it potentially because he's aware that the 36-year-old, surgically-repaired Romo is the fragile lynchpin that holds the entire 2016 Dallas Cowboys team together, and that if Romo were to get injured again, the hopes and dreams of those legions of Dallas fans would be dashed with a single broken bone, one awkwardly twisted joint?
Jones wants you to know that he tried, presumably because he knows that even fans are aware that LAF is looming, as well as the fact that the Cowboys continue to kick the can of franchise responsibility down the road, holding off on drafting Romo's eventual successor in the hopes of providing Romo and the fans (and Jones, of course, real hard) with that Super Bowl victory they've so long sought.
It's entirely possible that Jones isn't fibbing and that he and the rest of his Cowboy cohorts did their best to move up into the latter portion of the first round to acquire the big, talented Lynch before the Denver Broncos could get to him. There were reports suggesting that this was the case. But freely admitting to it afterwards?
That's an obvious public relations move aimed at stiff-arming a potentially angry fanbase if the Cowboys come away from this draft without a well-regarded quarterback.
But rest easy Cowboys fans, because Jerry tried, only maybe not as hard as he'd like you to think.
