Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones recently joined 105.3 The Fan (KRLD-FM) to discuss Carl Lawson’s progress in Dallas’ defensive system, whether the Cowboys overpaid for Jonathan Mingo and more.
Here are some highlights, edited for length and clarity:
Carl Lawson has had some productive outings the last few weeks. Is he getting to the point where you feel like you’re going to get some better things from him going out?
Stephen Jones: “Yeah, you certainly hope so. I think [Tyrus] Wheat has made a lot of good progress. One of the fortunate things that comes when you’re unfortunate with injuries is these guys get opportunities. Sometimes that’s just what they need. Wheat has really come along as a defensive end for us and gotten better. Certainly Lawson’s being productive for us. It’s great that these guys have come in and gotten the opportunities. Now we’ll be getting Micah [Parsons] back, it looks like, especially to have in our pass rush for this weekend. [Marshawn] Kneeland is right behind him, hopefully [DeMarcus Lawrence] is not far behind. Obviously we’re not going to get Sam Williams back this year, but we’ll get those three back. Guys like Chauncey [Golston], Wheat and Lawson, they keep getting better and better each week. Hopefully that’ll make us a better team as we head down the second half of the season.”
What did you think of Israel Mukuamu’s performance against Kyle Pitts in Atlanta?
Jones: “Well, we all remember [Jayron] Kearse and the role he played, which was covering a lot of tight ends. Certainly [Mukuamu] did a hell of a job on Pitts. We were certainly concerned about the matchup as well and he rose to the occasion. He gets better every year, he’s got great length. He’s a bendy guy for a 6-4 guy, and he did an outstanding job. Some guys are getting opportunities and it’s paying off for us.”
What did you think of the consensus in the media that the Cowboys overpaid for Jonathan Mingo?
Jones: “Everybody’s gonna have their opinion. I certainly respect that. There’s a lot of things that go into a trade and what you give up for a player. Obviously there’s veteran guys out there who are under contract for a lot of money that sometimes go for less. Amari [Cooper], when we traded him, it was tough sledding out there. We felt like we were getting a second-round type player for a fourth-round pick. The other thing we’re factoring into these days is the draft pool is not near as deep as it used to be. You don’t have near the players that are coming out that used to come out. With NIL, a lot of guys stay in. Especially the guys that would normally be falling in that third-, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, seventh-round category because they feel like they can improve their draft status, but they’re making good money. We just felt like for what we were going to get with our fourth-round pick in the upcoming draft that it would be hard to get the type of talent we can get with Mingo.
“Everybody’s gonna have an opinion on what’s too much, what’s not enough. That type of thing. Everybody’s got their calibration of what you should be giving. But we talked it over real well between Jerry [Jones], Will [McClay], myself and Mike [McCarthy]. We felt like it was a good move for us.”
Is the move for Mingo an indictment on the development of the team’s young receivers? How do we read that?
Jones: “I think you read into it obviously [as] us not having [Brandin] Cooks. We went in thinking he’s a solid No. 2 for us. Then we’re not going to have him and he’s free next year. We understand what our resources will be there and we just felt like we needed to beef that up, knowing not for sure when we’re going to get Cooks back. We felt like Mingo is a guy who certainly can be a No. 2 in this league. He brings, certainly, some depth to that position.”
Listen to the rest of Jones’ radio appearance here.
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