April 02, 2026
Robert Deutsch/Imagn Images
Is Jerry Jones really changing his ways or is he still holding the Cowboys back?
The annual NFL owners meetings are in the rear-view mirror. We've covered all of the Eagles angles in the past few days, from Jeff Lurie's comments on a new stadium to Nick Sirianni's affinity for "edgy" players, to Howie Roseman's change of tone on an A.J Brown trade.
Now we'll take a look at the Eagles' rivals and how they each have operated this season with the objective of knocking off the two-time defending division champion Eagles.
Here are the biggest owners meetings storylines facing the Cowboys, Giants and Commanders:
The Cowboys have been aggressive this offseason, especially in fixing their defense. Their biggest addition could be new DC Christian Parker, who worked wonders for the Eagles' secondary under Vic Fangio.
But the Cowboys also lost out on two free-agent linebackers when Nakobe Dean signed with the Raiders and Devin Lloyd chose the Carolina Panthers.
Jerry Jones was asked if Dallas, once a top destination for big name free agents, had lost some luster.
"I don't think we've lost any luster," he said – around the 15:45 mark – in this press conference video posted by the team. "I don't think that's the case. I do think there are a lot of nuances that can influence players' movement. A lot of them is they go with where they're comfortable with the coaching staff that have situation, created a situation there. We thought we were close on at least two situations. In fact, I probably left wherever I was thinking I had something, but that's the way this thing goes, and that's no problem."OK, first off. The "two situations" were surely Dean and Lloyd. And, sure, sometimes you just get outbid. The Eagles had that happen, too, with Jaelan Phillips.
But his point about players choosing coaches they have familiarity with makes zero sense on Dean, since you know, Dean and Parker were both just with the Eagles. Parker will run a scheme similar to the one in which Dean just thrived, yet Dean signed with a franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since 2002.
Sorry, Jerrah. Not buying that.
What's more possible is that Jones and his wonky, old-school business approach are a deterrent to players coming from other organizations. Jones once again used the player-unfriendly franchise tag on All Pro wide receiver George Pickens. In the same conversation that Jones said he has "long-term plans in mind" for Pickens he also said hasn't recently talked to Pickens' agent.
Jones ended up trading star pass rusher Micah Parsons last year after talks broke down because he tried to negotiate with Parsons while alienating Parson's agent, David Mulugheta. Guess which agent reps Pickens? Yep, Mulugheta.
Jones said he has "no issue" going through agents to talk contracts – you know, like literally every other GM does – but then made a very cringeworthy analogy about the Parsons situation and continued to encourage players to talk business with him independent of their representation.
Here's the whole quote, around the 5-minute mark:
"There's no issue of me talking to agents. I need to do a better job of not getting, 'Well, Daddy said I could have it' and him going to mama ... and mama saying, 'Daddy said I could have it.' We've gotta get on the same page and I have something to do with that as well. We've got to when we're dealing with agents, when I also do visit with players, always have, sometimes make the deal with the player. Always have. It always works out. If he worked without an agent, he'd save a lot of money – with me."
Yikes. Same old Jerrah ...
When he first became Giants head coach, John Harbaugh made it clear what the objective is – beat the Eagles.
Harbaugh, a former longtime Eagles assistant under Andy Reid, appeared on Howard Eskin's podcast and said this:
"It starts with the Eagles. I mean, let's just be honest about it. The Eagles are defending champs, so you gotta build a team to beat the Eagles. Yeah, you gotta beat the Commanders and you gotta beat the Cowboys, but the Eagles are the champs. So we have to build a team to beat the Eagles, and everything we do, every practice we have, every film session will be with that in mind."
At the owners meetings, Harbaugh said his plan to beat the Eagles is to essentially be the Eagles. He said the goal is to be the "best offensive line and defensive line in football."
"We talked about it right from Day 1," Harbaugh said, starting around the 4-minute mark of this video of the entire conference, posted by Pat Leonard of the NY Daily News. "We've got try to build the best offensive line and defensive line in football. That'll be our goal. We're gonna sure try. We're gonna try to be the best in football on both sides this year."
Offensive line? Outside of LT Andrew Thomas, they've got plenty of work to do before they can be mentioned in the same sentence as the Eagles.
The Commanders are trying to bounce back from their abysmal 5-12 season – a reverse record from 2024, when they stunned the NFL by getting to the NFC Championship.
They signed EDGEs Odafeh Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson to infuse some youth into their defensive front, which had gotten old, injured and ineffective. Head coach Dan Quinn seemed just as encouraged by the comeback of holdover Dorance Armstrong, who had 5.5 sacks in seven games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
"I really thought he was coming into his own," Quinn said in his press conference, at the 4:30 mark (h/t Bowie TV). "So for him to have that setback was significant. Good news for him is he's doing great. Super pumped about where he's headed. He's a real factor. Best teams I've been apart of had waves of players who can apply pressure. We need to be able to do that, and we will."
SIGN UP HERE to receive PhillyVoice's Sports newsletters.
Follow Geoff on Twitter/X: @geoffpmosher
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
