Jerry Jones on a possible role for Troy Aikman with the Cowboys: 'Don't rule it out'

Jerry Jones is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys. That much is not going to change, no matter what. We know that not only from years of watching him operate, but also from his direct quotes over the nearly 40 years that he's owned the team. 

But that doesn't mean there can't or won't be changes and/or additions to the Cowboys' front office. And apparently, we shouldn't close the door on something like that happening with a prominent former Cowboys quarterback: Troy Aikman.

Jones was asked during a Tuesday morning radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan about the possibility of Aikman joining the Cowboys in a major role, and he didn't rule it out.

"The answer is not that necessarily we're going to do something more direct with the team at this time, but don't rule it out," Jones said, via The Athletic. "It's very possible."

Aikman is currently employed as the lead analyst on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" broadcast, and has spent the last 26 years calling games for either ESPN or FOX. But he was also recently hired as a consultant for the Miami Dolphins, whom he helped during their search for a new general manager, which ultimately resulted in their hiring former Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan.

Of course, Aikman is better known for having won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys in the 1990s, so he has extensive ties to the organization. However, he's also been openly critical of the team -- up to and including Jerry Jones himself -- in the past.

"I think that teams and organizations, whether it's sports, business, I think it all does start at the top, good or bad," Aikman said this offseason when discussing the Cowboys' Super Bowl drought. "I think it starts at the top. I don't think Jerry would shy away from that. I think Jerry would certainly take responsibility. He'll take accountability if and when they win, and I think then you have to take responsibility when it hasn't worked out. And it hasn't worked out."

It's interesting that Jones would still consider potentially bringing Aikman into the organization in the wake of those and other comments that he's made over the years in his capacity as a broadcaster and analyst. But ultimately, Jones will do whatever it takes to bring attention to the Cowboys, and hiring Aikman in some capacity would certainly do that. Whether it would result in their actually getting back to and winning the Super Bowl is, obviously, another story.

This year's Cowboys team fancied itself a Super Bowl contender coming into the season, for example, but has instead been up and down at best. The Cowboys did snap their two-game losing skid with a win over the Eagles on Monday night, but Aikman himself remained unconvinced that their latest win was a sign that they're contenders again.

"Eh, not really. Not really. And I don't mean that as a negative," Aikman said when asked that very question during an appearance on the postgame edition of SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. "This is a beat-up Philadelphia team. To come in here and win tonight, I mean, let's not get carried away. They kind of did what you would expect them to do."

Dallas is just 3-4 after the victory, sitting behind the New York Giants in the NFC East standings. The Cowboys do have a somewhat favorable schedule coming up, with games against the Arizona Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans and the Eagles again over the next five weeks, but we've seen them stumble even with a favorable schedule before. (They also have a game against the San Francisco 49ers during that stretch.) 

We likely won't get a better idea of their contender status until the stretch surrounding their bye week, when they play the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and Giants in succession. If yet another year goes by where they don't accomplish what Jones wants to accomplish, perhaps a significant change like hiring Aikman for a front-office or consultant role is something that comes to fruition next offseason.

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