“As a businessman, Jerry is an absolute genius, but it’s safe to say he’s been exposed as a football idiot,” Dale Hansen nailed it when he said this. That zinger lands in America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys docu-series. Hansen beautifully referred to Herschel Walker’s blockbuster trade that Jimmy Johnson meticulously orchestrated while Jerry Jones quietly signed off on the price. It’s a sharp way to point out: okay, Jerry built an empire—but when it comes to footy decisions, he’s often flying by the seat of his pants. Why?

Well, there’s a lot that sets the Cowboys‘ owner apart. Hands-on hustle, marketing wizardry, controversial but loyal, league-wide influence, you name it, Jerry’s all of that. But the cornerstone is this: he’s the owner and the GM. A setup that fans love or loathe, but it’s just him. So when Netflix dropped the latest docu-series on Tuesday, August 19, without the headline, Jerry finally laid out why he’s never brought in a GM.

“I often asked the question, why don’t I hire a general manager?” Jerry said in the docu-series. “I’ve had people that say, Jerry, you subject yourself to so much criticism. You need a buffer. I don’t like it like that. I like the pain.” He gets the spotlight, the control, and he owns every risky call, for better or worse. And as it turns out, he likes that pain and criticism.

He’s a great businessman, no arguments there. After all, when Jerry first took over the Cowboys, the franchise was bleeding close to a million bucks a month and staring bankruptcy in the face. Even Donald Trump, never one to hold back, said he felt “sorry for the poor guy who’s going to buy” the team. Yet Jerry jumped in with a $140 million deal.

Fast forward 36 years, and his business savvy made the Cowboys a global powerhouse. We’re talking about maximizing sponsorships, building AT&T Stadium (Jerry World), Merchandising & Branding America’s Team, you name it. But there’s always another side to a story. In Jerry’s case, it’s the football side. The GM side. For which, he’s been dubbed a “football idiot” by Dale Hansen.

“That doesn’t make him a bad person, but he insists upon using his expertise in an area where he has none,” Dale added. “We’ve seen the results of that for about 30 years now.”Jerry, nevertheless, has been stubborn in remaining the GM of the Cowboys. The Cowboys’ owner has some beliefs. One of them is that he’s the right person for this position.

But when it comes to the actual job, Jerry’s track record has raised eyebrows pretty much every decade. We won’t talk about Walker’s trade. Most folks credit Jimmy for pulling that off. What we’re talking about are the many other big calls that came straight from Jerry’s playbook. Take the Roy Williams trade in 2008. It’s arguably one of the worst trades in franchise history. Jerry acquired Williams from Detroit and gave up first-and third-round picks. The result?

Williams showed up in 40 games with Dallas, caught 94 passes for 1,324 yards, and had just 13 TDs. Jerry realized his mistake. “I’ve made a lot worse mistakes,” he said about the Williams’ trade. It’s just a short storyline of Jerry’s literature. Jerry’s loyalty to Jason Garrett despite limited playoff success was undoubtedly blasted as classic Jerry Jones’ stubbornness. Then came the Ezekiel Elliott contract extension. Jerry rewarded Elliot’s holdout with a six-year $90 million deal.

Even if we look at the 2025 offseason, Micah Parsons literally stated in his statement, “I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys.” The reason was palpable: Jerry hasn’t signed Micah on a contract extension despite the DE’s efforts. It’s the same old-classic Jerry Jones tale with different POVs. On one side, he made his team a global powerhouse. But on the other hand, he’s often criticized for his football decisions. That’s the Cowboys’ owner-slash-general manager.

Jerry Jones will remain the Cowboys’ general manager

If there’s one thing that the latest Cowboys’ docu-series has confirmed, then it’s that Jerry Jones has no plans to retire as the team’s GM. He’s been doing the job for 36 years and plans to serve his team for many more years to come—unless, of course, his age politely asks him to step down. It’s the script we’ve seen before. Whenever someone puts a question on his table about his retirement, Jerry comes up with a blunt response.

That exactly happened last month. “Yes, momentary,” Jerry said when asked if he’s considering stepping down as GM. “Small fractions of seconds, I promise you.” But his statement has never been without a twist. “I don’t apologize at all for the fact that I’ve got the passion to be in the spot I’m in or I have the background or I have the qualifications,” he added. “I don’t apologize about that at all to my mirror.”

The question is: Is he qualified for the role? Well, we’re not diving into the football academics. His qualifications come only from the fact that he served as the team’s GM for over three and a half decades, that too, of a job that he offered himself. He took the GM’s chair. He kept it. And he’s never giving it back. Loud and clear. At least for now.