Jerry Jones: We couldn’t afford Derrick Henry

Derrick Henry, who trains in Dallas during the offseason, had interest in the Cowboys. The Cowboys, who needed a running back during the offseason after losing Tony Pollard, had no interest in the free agent.

After Henry ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the Ravens’ 28-25 win, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the team’s lack of interest had nothing to do with Henry.

“We couldn’t afford Derrick Henry,” Jones said.

Jones laughed when asked, “Why not?”

“I don’t know. Why can’t you buy a mansion if you live in a different type of house?” Jones said. “We couldn’t afford it. We can’t juggle everything. It’s as simple as that.”

The Cowboys did not extend the contracts of receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott until shortly before the start of the season, leaving them with little room under the salary cap. Instead of signing Henry for two years and $16 million (or re-signing Pollard for three years and $24 million), the Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott for one year and $3 million.

With a running back by committee, the Cowboys started the day ranked 25th in rushing. The Ravens had 274 rushing yards and the Cowboys, who fell behind early, had 51.

Rico Dowdle was the Cowboys’ best runner with eight runs for 32 yards.

“I wouldn’t blame the running game and the lack of it or our performance the last three games on a running back, because it takes some offensive linemen to get them out there; it takes a passing game to keep them on their toes in the running game. It takes a lot of things to make that work,” Jones said. “It wouldn’t be solved by just going over and getting (Hall of Famer) Jimmy Brown.”