No One Pulls the NFL's Strings Like Its Greatest Puppet Master, Jerry Jones - Mike Freeman, Bleacher Report
Jerry Jones: Badass.
It's possible we're seeing, right at this very moment, the evolution of Jerry Jones from great NFL owner to the most powerful man in all of sports. And he's doing it in the bossiest, most badass way possible.
The story of what Jones is doing comes down to one simple fact: In sports, as in life, financial power equates to real power, and Jones is accumulating both in ways we have rarely, if ever, seen before.
One league official calls him the "big-hat bossman," which is only partly a joke. More bluntly, an NFL owner calls him "the most influential owner in all of sports."
Jones has long been a powerful force in the NFL, but through his role over these last few weeks and years, we may be watching Jones, quite possibly, become the most powerful man in all of sports.
How Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got this Vegas Raiders deal done - Tim Kawakami, San Jose Mercury News
Kawakami explains that while the Raiders move to Las Vegas is owner Mark Davis' signature move, people involved in those negotiations all point to Jerry Jones as the man who made it happen.
[Jerry Jones] has now helped the 49ers into the Levi’s Stadium gold mine, brokered the deal to get the Rams into Inglewood and then the Chargers there, too, and now has guided the Raiders to Las Vegas, due to start playing in the new stadium by 2019 or 2020.
Oh, and by the way, Jones owns a major chunk of Legends, a hospitality-marketing company that will now sell the suites and sponsorships for the Las Vegas stadium (with potentially the largest naming-rights deal ever), is selling them for the Rams and Chargers in LA, and sold out the suites and sponsorships for Levi’s.
Jerry Jones stands to win big with Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas - Clarence Hill, The Star-Telegram
The Raiders wouldn’t have been able to move to Las Vegas without the power and influence of Jerry Jones, who also stands to cash in big with his company Legends Hospitality. Hill details the reach Jones has via Legends Hospitality.
[Jones] now stands to gain millions with the Raiders moving to Las Vegas in terms of the relocation fee to the Cowboys and personally with Legends spear-heading everything in sales and marketing.
Consider that it was Jones who pushed the deal through for St. Louis Rams to relocate to Los Angeles roughly 15 months ago. Not coincidentally, Legends is selling the suites and sponsorships for the new stadium in Los Angeles.
Legends also had a hand in the San Francisco 49ers deal for Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Legends sold out the suites and sponsorships there.
When the 49ers, the Rams, the Chargers, who will share the stadium in Los Angeles, and, now, the Raiders win off the field, it’s also a win for Jones.
No press conference necessary.
What Cowboys QB Dak Prescott taught the Penn State football team this offseason - SportsDay Staff
Prescott recently hosted some Penn State football players who were on spring break in Orlando.
But instead of showing them the party scene, Prescott gave them pointers on the game and how to be a leader as well as working out with the four Nittany Lions.
"It was pretty cool, it was really cool actually to work out with Dak Prescott," running back Saquon Barkley said, via the Penn State student newspaper The Daily Collegian. "Talk to him and see the knowledge that he knows from the game and what he learned from his first year, especially being on a team with guys like [Dez Bryant] and [Ezekiel Elliott]."
Barkley said that Prescott's advice focused on leadership and taking the sport seriously.
"But basically how to be a leader, how to lead a team, how to come to practice every single day and how to be a pro pretty much," Barkley said. "Obviously I'm still in college, but you can be a pro about your body, and a pro about how you approach practice and how you try to be a leader and overall become a better player."
Mailbag: Having Faith In Jeff Heath? - Dallas Cowboys Staff
A part of the Cowboys fan base that cheered for former UDFAs like Tony Romo, Miles Austin, Barry Church, or Cole Beasley finds the idea that another former UDFA could become a starter inconceivable. Not Bryan Broaddus.
Bryan: You're preaching to the wrong guy. I was a Heath fan when the majority of the fans wanted to move on from him. I still see them using a rotation of safeties in these games in order to have as many guys ready as possible.
Kansas City Chiefs sign former Cowboys TE Gavin Escobar to 1-year deal - Kate Hairopoulos, SortsDay
Escobar is the 11h Cowboys free agent to sign with another team this year.
Tight end Gavin Escobar visited and then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday. The deal is reportedly for one year, per ESPN's Adam Caplan.
Cowboys Pre-Draft Visits: Pass Rushers & Cornerbacks Dominate Early Scheduled Vistors - Blogging The Boys
The list of pre-draft visitors is usually a good indicator of what the Cowboys will do in the draft, and the early names assembled clearly point to pass rushers and corners as primary targets for the Cowboys.
Overnight additions include CB Treston Decoud as a "30-Visit" and DE Daeshon Hall as a Dallas day invite.
Dallas Cowboys tight against cap but can easily gain space - Todd Archer, ESPN
In his Twitter mailbag, Archer examines what role Tony Romo and Doug Free could have in freeing up salary-cap space for the Cowboys.
If you go by what the NFL Players Association says, the Cowboys have $1.4 million in cap room. If you go by what the NFL’s Management Council says, they have less than $300,000. I don’t understand the differences other than the NFLPA always wants to show teams with money and the teams’ figures want to show they don’t have a lot of space.
Cap space is always a moving target. The Cowboys don’t have a lot of room, but they can create about $4 million in room by restructuring Jason Witten's contract. They can get either $5.1 million in space now or $14 million in June by releasing Tony Romo. To the Doug Free question in particular, the Cowboys do not gain the $5 million in cap space until they place him on the reserve/retired list. For that to happen, they have to file Free’s retirement letter with the NFL, and they have yet to make that move. Why? I can’t really give you a good answer, but it should happen soon. Of course, I thought Romo would have been released by now.
NFL Draft 2017: Which player do mock drafts project each team to pick? - Adam Stites, SBNation.com
The most popular mock draft selection for the Cowboys currently is Missouri DE/OLB Charles Harris
NFC East Notebook: Romo-watch 2017 drags on - Brandon Estrict, Big Blue View
The mandatory Romo link today comes courtesy of a fellow NFC East blog getting in on the Romo headline action.