Bill Clinton and Jerry Jones go way back to their days in Arkansas.
The former president crashed the Cowboys owner’s pre-draft news conference on Wednesday, appearing to surprise Jones.
A reporter was in the middle of a question when Jones saw Clinton entering The Star, the team’s training facility, according to Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press. The reporter attempted to finish the question as Clinton came through a side door into the interview room.
“I’m negotiating the draft,” Clinton said with a smile.
Jones stumbled as he exited the stage to shake hands with the 42nd U.S. president, but steadied himself before falling.
“He’s been a wonderful, not only president, but a friend over the years,” Jones said before exiting with Clinton, “and I’m really happy to have you here today.”
Executive vice president Stephen Jones and coach Brian Schottenheimer finished the news conference.
The Dallas Cowboys always have a plan. Even when the plan is there ain’t no plan.
After giving up a third-round pick last year for receiver George Pickens, the Cowboys had no plan to turn the remainder of his contract into a fair long-term deal, if he performed at a high level. (He did.) Instead, the apparent plan was to employ him at a salary of $3.65 million in 2025 and, if he has a big year, to take full advantage of the franchise tag in 2026.
The market for receivers dramatically outpaces the franchise tag, by nearly $15 million per year. And so, in lieu of giving Pickens the contract he has earned, the Cowboys will hide behind the CBA provision that allows them to pay Pickens $27.298 million in 2026 — even though the market has recently moved to $42.15 million per year, thanks to the Jaxon Smith-Njigba deal.
Cowboys executive Stephen Jones confirmed that plan during a pre-draft press conference on Wednesday.
“There won’t be negotiations on a long-term deal,” Jones said, via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Jones added, via Todd Archer of ESPN, that the team has no assurances as to when or if he’ll show up for the offseason program. Until he accepts the franchise tender, he’s not under contract. He can skip all of the offseason, all of training camp, and all of the preseason. He can show up just before the start of the regular season and make the full $27.298 million.
And then, next year, the Cowboys can tag him again. At a 20-percent increase over his 2026 salary: $33.576 million. Which is still well below market value.
This means that the Cowboys can keep Pickens for two years at a total payout of $60.874 million. It delays Pickens’s long-term security by two full seasons, forcing him to stay healthy and to continue to play at a high level before earning a shot at the open market. (The Cowboys could then tag him a third time, but it would be far more expensive.)
The approach reduces Pickens to a business transaction. It doesn’t take into account whether the player will be happy. Or whether he will believe he’s being treated fairly.
The position quite possibly is influenced by Pickens’s reluctance to talk to the Cowboys without the involvement of an agent. They love to cut out the agents, because the agents can get a much better deal than the players will get alone.
It would be foolish to think that the link between Pickens and Micah Parsons, who is represented by the same agent, didn’t influence the decision.
The bottom-line message to Pickens becomes, essentially, “Tough shit. The CBA lets us do this. And we’re going to do it.”
His only option is to not play. Or to sign the one-year tender and not go all out, missing games due to injuries that would allow him to play if he had a proper long-term deal.
Even after the window for a long-term deal closes on July 15, the Cowboys could pay him more than the amount of the tag for 2026. They may have to decide whether they want to do that.
If they want to get the best out of Pickens, that would be the least they’d do. Ideally, they’d regard the situation as a good problem to have and they’d get him signed.
With two first-round draft picks — No. 12 and No. 20 — the Cowboys could be a popular trade partner for teams looking to trade up. There’s also a possibility they try to trade up to get a top defender for a unit that allowed a franchise-record 511 points last season.
Jerry Jones confirmed on Wednesday that the Cowboys have already started getting calls from other teams.
“We look at both [trading up or trading down],” Jones said, via K.D. Drummond of USA Today. “There’s every type of trade possible. Players on other rosters, draft picks, all of that is in play.”
Executive vice president Stephen Jones said there is “nothing concrete” right now, which is as expected. The phones in the Cowboys’ draft room are sure to ring on Thursday night as the 12th overall pick approaches.
“You could imagine making a call right now and making a trade. Picks or players,” Jerry Jones said. “That hasn’t usually been our experience. . . . [But] the nature of having extra picks in that first round gives more credence to some options. And one that would be up or down.”
Jerry Jones added that receiving calls is better than making calls because “the results are better.”
The Cowboys were prepared to have Brandon Aubrey play on the second-round tender of $5.76 million for 2026. The kicker, though, made it clear to his agent, Todd France, that he wanted to get an extension completed in an “expedited manner.”
Aubrey, 31, signed a four-year, $28 million deal, with $20 million guaranteed this week, which makes him the highest-paid player at his position.
“I never really thought about it like that,” Aubrey said Tuesday, via Garrett Podell of CBS Sports. “I just wanted to fight my way on to a roster and hold on to it. . . . My goal was always just to get on an NFL roster. Then, take it kick by kick.”
Aubrey is 112-of-127 on field goals (88.2 percent) over his three years with the Cowboys, including a 35-of-44 mark on kicks of at least 50 yards. He’s also tied for the fourth-longest field goal in league history at 65 yards.
He went from signing with the Cowboys in 2023 after a prove-it spring season in the UFL to three Pro Bowls and now a record contract.
“Man, I’ve been reflecting on it quite a bit the last 24 hours,” Aubrey said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “Yeah, it’s not sunk in just yet. I do feel like a weight or stress deep down is gone. I’m able to enjoy day to day life a little more again.”
In 2019, quarterback Will Grier arrived in Carolina as a third-round drdaft pick. Now he’s returning to the Panthers as a free agent signing.
Grier will sign with the Panthers, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. It will be Grier’s second stint in Carolina, where he spent two seasons but didn’t do much. His only regular-season action came in the last two games of his rookie year, both of which were ugly performances in blowout losses.
Those are still the only two regular-season games Grier has played, but he has managed to stick around in the NFL as a backup. He has spent time mostly with the Cowboys but also had brief stays on the Bengals, Patriots, Chargers and Eagles.
Grier is the third quarterback on the Panthers’ roster, and he’ll join a quarterback room that also features starter Bryce Young and backup Kenny Pickett.
The 31-year-old Grier was born and raised in the Charlotte suburbs, and after a journey that has seen him hold clipboards around the NFL, now he’s getting a homecoming.
