A week ago, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones compared the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams' run to the Super Bowl a season ago, in which they gave away high draft picks like they grow on trees, to the Philadelphia Eagles' climb to Super Bowl LVII this season. Jones made this connection despite the Eagles methodically building through the draft and using trades plus free agency to put the finishing touches on the roster.
Here's what Jones said at the Senior Bowl a week ago.
"Anybody who thinks I won't take a chance has misread the tea leaves," Jones said. "But I do think longer term, and I'm real hesitant to bet it all for a year. There's a lot of things that can happen for that year. In essence, we're seeing a couple of teams [the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles] that have had some real success putting it all out there and paying for it later. Don't think that doesn't pop in my head end get my eye as far as doing it, and I know how to do that. It's part of what you put in that computer and what comes out. We'll see how it comes, but that's pretty impressive to have two teams in the last two years empty the bucket and get to the Super Bowl. But if you miss, it's a long go.
"On the other hand, my general experience has been that if you will stay aggressive, I'm talking whether it's on the field or off the field, but you pick your shots with risk-taking, and I've spent a lot of time in my life doing that," Jones continued. "When they cut me open, it will be all those scars, heart attacks, for all those risks I took and the years I spent paying for them. My point is, I do know how to take risks. They are absolutely right. We have been in the middle here for a few years, but I like where we are right now, more in the middle. But given the opportunity, if it would make some sense, I've definitely got some risk-taking in me."
It was an apples-to-oranges connection, which baffled Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. So much so, he gave a call to Jimmy Johnson, the former two-time Super Bowl champion head coach of the Cowboys, to make sure he wasn't crazy.
"I said, 'I have no idea,'" Johnson said, via the Philadelphia Inquirer when describing how he answered Lurie's phone call about his former boss' comments. "Philadelphia has a couple of first-round picks in the [2023] NFL Draft. They've got extra picks down the road. They've got some very talented players. They've got some talented young players."
Johnson is understandably, categorically opposed to what his former general manager said.
"I think the Philadelphia Eagles are gonna be good for a long time," Johnson said in summary.
Philadelphia currently has about $4 million in cap space (according to OverTheCap.com) and is one of two teams in the upcoming 2023 draft that simultaneously made the playoffs this season and have multiple first-round picks, including one in the top 10, the 10th overall pick via a trade with the New Orleans Saints. The Seattle Seahawks, who extracted three players and five picks when sending quarterback Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, are the other such team. The Eagles have found a perfect balance between winning now as well as being built for success down the road. Only eight of the Eagles' 22 offensive and defensive starters haven't been acquired through the draft or undrafted free agency. Thus, possessing a contrasting long-term outlook than the Rams, who went 5-12 in 2022, the worst record ever by a defending Super Bowl champion as their aging stars suffered injuries and lacked depth to keep the team afloat. Los Angeles hasn't had its own first-round pick since selecting quarterback Jared Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.
Given the stark contrast between the last two NFC champions, it's hard to see how anyone could claim the Eagles went "all in" this season. That's what Jones, one of Philadelphia's NFC East rivals says, but the comment comes across more as jealousy than it does wisdom. The Dallas Cowboys have made an NFL record 12 consecutive playoff trips without reaching the NFC Championship Game, which could have fueled the frustration for Jones to make the comparison.
