Jerry Jones: 'Teams that pay big ticket on quarterback have to sacrifice other places'

There is no owner that enjoys talking to the press more than Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, and he was saying a lot of words again on Friday.
During an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones spent a lot of the segment discussing the team's salary cap outlook and how things have shaped up over the years.
 
Jones was specifically asked about Elliott's contract and how viable he still is as a player.
 
He used that as a jumping off point to go on a long-winded, rambling answer that didn't address the question as it relates to Elliott, while also bringing up what happens when teams pay big money to quarterbacks as the Cowboys recently did with Prescott.

Rather than pick and chose excerpts without context, here is the entire answer:
 
"I'm smiling because I can remember it was just months ago when people were talking about how important it was to get him (Zeke) signed. How could you not realize what he is for the team? And then, of course, when you get him signed, you move along and what does happen is you have to pay the fiddler. And when you pay the fiddler, you pay him dollars that you're not paying to a guard, or pay him dollars that you're not paying to a defensive end, or pay him dollars that you're not paying to a receiver. So the facts are, there is no free lunch. Every dollar you spend on a player is a dollar you can spend some place else. What the goal is here is to get the most value for those dollars that are out there."

He continued: "I have talked about this before, but availability. If you were in college, the dollars are the equivalent of scholarships. Those dollars get you players. You can give it all to one player, and when you do, you don't have it available to go to other players. The more you pay to quarterbacks, the teams that pay big ticket on quarterbacks, they have to sacrifice other players. That is just the game. It is a big nuanced part of the game. It is a very competitive part. But I like where we are."

He is not wrong about the quarterback situation, and it has become major storyline in recent years as to how valuable it is to have a high level quarterback on a rookie deal and the flexibility it creates for a team in constructing its roster. And for as expensive as Prescott's deal is, his average annual salary is still only eighth among the league's quarterbacks, and he is sure to drop down several more spots in the coming years when Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert sign their next deals.
 
But going in that direction when the question was about the starting running back on a $90 million contract that isn't looking like the best investment is some A-plus deflecting.