Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones may be one of the more gregarious owners in the league. It's rare that he finds a microphone he doesn't like. But when it comes to his own pending free agents, Jones is uncharacteristically tight lipped.
The Cowboys lead the NFC East at 10-4. Remember, this team was supposed to have one of the worst defenses in NFL history and be a cellar dweller this season. Obviously, they've surpassed expectations. But with that success comes a few problems: re-signing the star players and coaches who helped to achieve those victories. Head coach Jason Garrett is in the last year of his contract, while wide receiver Dez Bryant and running back DeMarco Murray are scheduled to hit the open market in the offseason.
So what's a team owner and general manager to do?
"The only reason I'm not going to because I've said that I'm just not going to talk about his business," Jones said of Garrett. "His business in this context is his contract. I'm just not going to talk about that. I haven't talked about it and there's no need to talk about it. We'll sit down after the season and take a look at how things are going.
"It's very obvious that he is doing very well and his hard work is paying off."
You know who else is doing well? Bryant and Murray. In fact, both are having career years. Bryant is on pace to set a career high in touchdowns while Murray leads the NFL in rushing.
"Yes," Jones said when asked if this is a good problem for a team to have. "You know the antithesis of that would be to be sitting here with them needing contracts and be sitting here with about three wins. I love this problem. I liked it back in the early '90s and I love it today.
"Hopefully I've learned some things about how to deal with this problem."
