Jerry Jones doesn’t have time to wait for another Super Bowl win.
Not anymore.
He turns 81 in October. Only six NFL team owners are older.
“There was a sense of urgency in 1989 when I got into the NFL, so I never thought there was time to slough off,” Jones said Tuesday at the Dallas Cowboys’ opening news conference.
“When I look at where we are with Dak (Prescott) and where we are with Tyron Smith, and what I’ve seen and experienced with players who have played great for the Cowboys but aren’t here today, then we need to get it done now while we got them.
“…I’m very urgent. I’m excited and proud that I have the health to be that way.”
It has been 27 years and 10,044 days since the Cowboys played in the Super Bowl. The 1995 season was also the last time the Cowboys played in the NFC Championship game.
Only Detroit and Washington, a pair of moribund franchises, have longer streaks of NFC futility.
Now, the Dallas Cowboys don’t want to be compared to either of those franchises, but until they win a title, they must live with the narrative.
Since the 1995 season, Detroit has had three double-digit win seasons and no division titles. The Lions are 0-6 in the playoffs. In the same span, Washington has three double-digit win seasons, four divisional championships, and is 0-6 in the playoffs.
The Dallas Cowboys, who had championship-caliber teams in 2007, 2014, and 2016, have 11 10-win seasons and nine NFC East titles since their last Super Bowl.
They have an 8-12 playoff record.
Last year, though, marked the first time they had consecutive 10-win seasons since 1995-96 and the first time they made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 2006-07.
“If you want to bang the door down, you have to get on the front porch every time,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think we’ve definitely established that, but it’s about winning a championship, and I don’t shy away from that at all.
“We look forward to all the challenges and adversity that will come — every year, it comes at you a little differently — but that’s what it takes to win in this league. Urgency is always there.”
Improvements to Dallas Cowboys roster
After winning 12 games each of the last two years, the Dallas Cowboys spent their offseason getting better on both sides of the ball.
First, McCarthy essentially fired play-caller Kellen Moore and took over the job, even though Dallas ranked fourth in the NFL with 27.5 points per game.
“It wasn’t about what Kellen wasn’t; it’s about what Mike is,” Jones said.
Then they added another weapon for quarterback Dak Prescott by signing wide receiver Brandin Cooks, who has 1,000-yard seasons with four franchises. Prescott, who tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions, must regain his form. In 12 games, he passed for 2,860 yards with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
He’s never been the kind of quarterback to elevate an offense simply with his arm, but when the Dallas Cowboys have put playmakers around him, Prescott has always played well.
With CeeDee Lamb, Cooks, and Tony Pollard, who replaces Ezekiel Elliot as the Cowboys’ lead runner, Prescott has enough weapons to make the Cowboys’ offense formidable.
They gave defensive coordinator Dan Quinn cornerback Stephon Gilmore and first-round pick Mazi Smith, the first defensive tackle they drafted in the first round since Russell Maryland in 1991. They also re-signed safety Donovan Wilson and linebacker Leighton Vander Esch.
Then the Cowboys signed Trevon Diggs to a five-year, $97-million extension on the first day of training camp.
The Cowboys finished 5th in the league in points (20.1) allowed), tied for 3rd in sacks (54), and led the league with 33 turnovers.
This defensive unit expects to be held to a championship standard.
“It’s great on paper,” safety Jayron Kearney said. “Sometimes, you bring a lot of guys together, and they’re not as good as they are on paper. We have things going in a great direction, but we gotta prove it day in and day out.”
Jean-Jacques Taylor is an NFL Insider for Sportsnaut and the author of the upcoming book “Coach Prime“, with Deion Sanders. Follow him on Twitter.