Jerry Jones strangely admits the Cowboys couldn’t afford a star free agent this offseason

The Dallas Cowboys entered this season with a slightly different mindset than last year, in part because the team didn’t make too many significant changes in the offseason to improve the roster.

One major area where the Cowboys failed to improve was at the running back position. They let Tony Pollard leave as a free agent without having a good backup plan for his departure.

Pollard had become one of the key building blocks of their offense over the past few years, but Dallas didn’t seem too worried about that. To fill the void, they eventually signed former running back Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle and veteran Dalvin Cook.

However, there were rumors that Dallas was interested in signing Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry. Henry would have given the Cowboys another star at the position, but he ended up signing with the Baltimore Ravens.

After the Cowboys’ game against the Ravens last weekend, I was thinking about what could have been done in return. Henry rushed for 151 yards with two touchdowns to help the Ravens to their first win over the Cowboys.

And it didn’t help that owner Jerry Jones made some interesting comments about Henry.

“Hats off to him. He had a great day today. I have all the respect in the world for him,” Jones said, according to ESPN. “And that’s what happens when you don’t sign good players: They can come back and have a great game against you. But the bottom line is, we can’t afford Derrick Henry.”

It’s odd that an owner would admit something like that, especially coming from Jones. He was one of the most eccentric owners in the sport and the Cowboys are the biggest brand in football.

Henry signed a two-year, $16 million deal with Baltimore over the summer, including $9 million in guaranteed salary. The Cowboys probably couldn’t have afforded such a contract, but they preferred to stay on the edge at the running back position.

The star running back also mentioned that Dallas never contacted him during the offseason. He had expressed a desire to become a member of the Cowboys, but it was not to be.

Dallas fell to 1-2 on the season while Baltimore improved to 1-2. The Cowboys almost pulled off a big comeback win, but they just missed it and now have to start all over again to find answers.

For more news about the Cowboys, visit Newsweek Sports.