For years, Jerry Jones has micromanaged almost every aspect of the Dallas Cowboys. He's clearly great at making money, but history suggests he may not be as good at building football teams or relationships with his players.
Long gone are the days of the Cowboys hoisting Vince Lombardi trophies, and Jones' constant promises have felt like empty words for years now. That's why, even after an encouraging offseason, some people are still skeptical about this team.
The clock is ticking, and the fan base is anxious and desperate to get back to contention. That's why team legend Emmitt Smith believes making the most of the Micah Parsons trade will be crucial to this team, and not just from a football standpoint.
In an appearance on "The Ross Tucker Podcast," the legendary running back argued that now could be a breaking point for the fan base, and he fears the Cowboys might lose lifetime fans with another big swing-and-miss.
Even Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith has had it with the franchise's decisions
"If we don't (capitalize on the Parsons trade), then I believe the Dallas Cowboys and the family could be losing fans for a lifetime because those fans will feel like they have been taken advantage of and no one has really paid attention to them," Smith said. "And that's when you will see an effect of sales in tickets, suites, merchandising going down, and that's the biggest way impact a person's pocket, is through their wallet."
The Cowboys have one of the biggest, loudest, and most loyal fan bases in all professional sports. They're also one of the most valuable brands in the industry, and that's despite not winning a Super Bowl -- or even reaching an NFC Championship -- since 1996.
Over the past three decades, Jones has refused to cede control of the team's operations. Every single general manager in the league would've been fired after 30 trophyless years, but he also happens to own the team and has done so since buying the Cowboys in 1989.
His weekly radio appearances, the way he's delayed contract talks with stars and ruined relationships with some players, all the way to him parading his players as they work out at the facility, the list of potentially fireable offenses goes on and on.
Fans are passionate, and that often makes them irrational. Even when there's no objective reason to feel hopeful or excited, they will still come back and try to look at the glass half full, talking themselves into being there for their team.
That said, this fan base has just been through way too much, and there's only so much they can take. Losing a generational talent like Micah Parsons could be the straw that broke the camel's back to some, and it would be hard to judge them.
On paper, it looks like the Cowboys have done an amazing job of maximizing their return, and knowing that Parsons is currently injured might make the trade look even smarter. Still, it's early to tell who won and lost that deal.
Caleb Downs, Malachi Lawrence, Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, LT Overton and Devin Moore are all of the rebuild pieces from the Parsons trade, and we can only hope that becomes a repeat of the infamous Herschel Walker trade.
Jerry Jones might finally take a different approach if his pocket starts hurting, but Cowboys fans have thought this for quite a while. The Cowboys are the most valuable sports team in the world, with a noisy fan base. If a Cowboys legend like Smith is warning Jones that fans are growing exhausted of the repeated failures, you know it's getting bad.
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