The Dallas Cowboys have not returned to the Super Bowl, let alone the NFC Championship game, since beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super XXX on Jan. 28, 1996.
Despite that, the team has become the most valuable franchise in professional sports.
The Cowboys are the first sports team in history to reach $10 billion in value, according to Sportico’s valuation from August.
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones walks off the field prior to the game against the Washington Commanders at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, on Jan. 7. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
There is a notion that Cowboys owner, president and general manager Jerry Jones is content with just making money, and that, for him, making money is more important than winning another Super Bowl.
However, he recently refuted those thoughts.
“What’s missing here is the fact that maybe someone thinks that because I don’t want to win a ballgame, I don’t want to win a Super Bowl, as much as I don’t want to make a buck. That’s bull stuff, that really is.” Jones said during an interview on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
“That’s not the way it works. Anybody [that] really knows me is that I’d trade two-thirds, or a third, whatever percentage you want to call of what the Cowboys are supposed to be worth, to get us one of those Super Bowls.”
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones appears during training camp at the River Ridge Playing Fields in Oxnard, California, on July 26. (Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports)
For the 81-year-old, being around the sport of football means more to him than money.
“I told my team, we just finished training camp, but we opened training camp, and I told my team and coaches, ‘Yeah, I could be anywhere in the world I want to be. I could be. I don’t want to be anywhere else. I want to be right here, with y’all. I want to be out here, and I want to be agonizing with us vicariously — not in your shoes, guys. I don’t want any of that,'” Jones said.
“‘But I want to agonize with you on your pursuit to become an NFL player and be a part of the Cowboys. Because I want to be a part of that feeling when we walk out there together and win it.’ Now money is not that, that’s different, Stephen. Much different than that.”
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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb reacts after a play against the Green Bay Packers in the second half of their NFC wild card game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 14. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
The Cowboys went 12-5 last season and won the NFC East. Yet they lost 48-32 at home to the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round, furthering their stretch without an NFC Championship game appearance.
Jones just gave star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb a four-year contract extension worth $136 million after Lamb held out of training camp, but still has one other major contract matter hanging over his head.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and could command $55 million to $60 million per season on the open market.
Jones and Prescott have been in contract discussions, but nothing seems imminent that a deal is going to be done before the season begins.
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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott reacts after a play against the Green Bay Packers during the second half of their NFC wild card game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 14. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)
In the regular season, Prescott is 73-41 as a starter, yet holds a 2-5 record in playoff games.
Jones may be willing to trade two-thirds of the Cowboys’ $10 billion valuation for a Super Bowl, but it remains to be seen if he will pony up to keep his star quarterback in Dallas.
The Cowboys’ quest to make it back to the Super Bowl is set to begin when they play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.
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