There might not be one person in the world who can turn the mundaneness of an NFL offseason into a full-blown media circus quite like Jerry Jones. Say what you will about the 82-year-old, but he is the gold standard of drawing attention.
The 2025 offseason has been chaotic for the Dallas Cowboys. After coming off a less-than-stellar 7-10 campaign, the ever–Super Bowl–averse Cowboys are looking for a bounce-back season in the worst way. However, one massive barrier stands in their way: Jerry Jones.
Related: It took one day of training camp for Micah Parsons to give Jerry Jones an ultimatum
Jerry let head coach Mike McCarthy go after the season in one of the stranger (not strangest, we’ll get to that later) contract negotiations in recent memory. They just sort of parted ways after both standing firm for term years. McCarthy was no world-beater, but he performed admirably. In a surprising move, he was replaced by first-time HC Brian Schottenheimer.
Schotty is going to need all the help he can get if Jones and Co. truly expect this team to go anywhere near a Super Bowl. The irony is that Jerry’s already inadvertently doing everything in his power to sabotage his new HC before he even sees a snap. And another down year in Dallas could put pressure on Jones to completely rethink his coaching staff, potentially bringing in one of the college game’s greats in Nick Saban.
Jerry Jones' mismanagement of Cowboys could lead right to Nick Saban
Schottenheimer is being set up to fail. First, Dallas let DeMarcus Lawrence walk due to cap constraints. Then came the Micah Parsons saga, a bizarre, dragged-out negotiation that’s somehow made less sense the longer it’s gone on. And just when you thought it couldn’t get more unhinged, Jones took a public shot at Trevon Diggs for his rehab and then quietly pulled $500,000 off his contract. That’s not business. That’s personal.
All of it has contributed to a roster that feels more unstable than ever — and that’s before the season even starts. If things unravel, Schottenheimer’s seat won’t just get warm. It’ll explode. And when it does, Jones is going to do what he always does: chase the biggest, boldest name possible to distract from the mess he created.
Which brings us to Saban.
Earlier in July, former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy suggested Saban might not be done coaching after all:
“A very much in-the-know person that I have a lot of respect for and have spent a lot of time around, and just really, really admire — they seem to think Nick Saban is not done coaching,” McElroy claimed. “He’s pretty adamant that he thinks Nick Saban will be coaching again.”
Rumors only gained steam after Albert Breer floated the Cowboys as a real possibility on The Herd:
"The Cowboys are interesting because they do have a lot of win-now elements," Breer noted. "He could come in there and really go into a place that’s set up for a strong coach. And it’s interesting because I think the one thing about Dallas that people misunderstand is, yes, Jerry’s involved in football. But the coach is involved in scouting too.”
There’s always going to be some level of skepticism. Saban is 73. He’s already walked away. He’s got nothing left to prove. But if there’s any scenario wild enough to tempt him back, it could be this one. Jones is impulsive enough to make it happen. And Saban is calculated enough to consider it, especially if it gives him a ready-made roster and a shot at rewriting his NFL legacy.
Saban to Dallas feels... icky. Super unlikely. Almost like a reverse Belichick. But it only seems fitting that one of the most iconic owners in football history gets one of the most iconic coaches in football history to coach one of the most iconic franchises in football history.
If this somehow ends up happening (it's a massive if), don’t let anyone sell you on it being part of some master plan. It’ll be the result of one thing, and one thing only: Jerry Jones’ ego.