Cowboys' Jerry Jones says paying coaches never been an issue - ESPN

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones received criticism Tuesday when he said on 105.3 The Fan there is no correlation to spending money on a coach and winning in the NFL.

Appearing on the team's flagship network Friday, Jones had an answer of more than five minutes talking about the subject.

«Not one time in my life that I have ever, if I wanted to do it, let money stand in the way of doing it,» he said.

Before hiring Brian Schottenheimer in 2025, the Cowboys did not have interviews with some of the more sought-after coaches, such as Ben Johnson, who ended up with the Chicago Bears. The Cowboys had interviews with Leslie Frazier, Robert Saleh and Kellen Moore before hiring Brian Schottenheimer.

Saleh (Titans) and Moore (Saints) have since gotten head coaching jobs.

«I have never on the basis of some coach saying, 'I'll come and I know you want me, but I won't because you won't pay me enough,'» Jones said. «That's never happened in my life.»

Jones hinted he has been involved with high-profile coaches that had not been revealed. There had been reports of the Cowboys' interest in Sean Payton, a former Dallas assistant under Bill Parcells, when he was head coach of the Saints.

«The facts are I have been out there, and I have been trying to lure very successful coaches away from the teams they were on and knew full well that I was going to pay them for their success,» he said. «So that has been done. No one knows that, but I do. And so it is absolutely ridiculous. And I actually grin when somebody says, 'Jerry's not willing to pay the money for what it would take to get the right kind of coach out there.'»

While coaching salaries are not public, Schottenheimer is believed to be in the bottom