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The Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 season was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. Star quarterback Dak Prescott struggled mightily before suffering a season-ending injury. Elite pass rusher Micah Parsons missed a significant period of time, and Dallas finished with a 7-10 record, well outside of a playoff spot.
One bright spot, however, was Cooper Rush. The veteran once again proved be one of the more capable backup quarterbacks in the league, going 4-4 as a starter in relief of Prescott. And yet, even Rush’s season ended disappointing as the Cowboys seemingly screwed him out of a massive $500,000 bonus.
Rush needed to play just 68 snaps against the Washington Commanders in Week 18 to earn the bonus. However, Dallas opted to bench Rush in favor of third-string quarterback Trey Lance. Lance and the Cowboys offense ran 73 plays in a 23-19 loss.
Jerry Jones says QB Cooper Rush’s contract incentive that would have been reached — and would’ve paid Rush $250,000 — if he played today was NOT the reason Trey Lance started for the Dallas Cowboys…#DallasCowboys #cowboys #dallas #NFL pic.twitter.com/6sKu97vpiH
— Pat Doney (@PatDoneyNBC5) January 5, 2025
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Says He Was Unaware Of Cooper Rush Bonus Situation
“I didn’t even know about it,” Jerry Jones said when asked about the decision after the game. “I didn’t even know about it until I read about it, so nothing at all. Those incentives are in there for the team. We put them in there so that if someone is, in his case, as the backup quarterback, has to play, he has the financial incentives. They’re usually put in there because of the people representing him. They should be. … He [Rush] did earn some pretty serious incentives this year.”
For one, that’s a pretty egregious admission if it’s true, considering Jones is the team’s acting general manager as well. But it’s also hard to believe that Jones didn’t know. And for him to claim that the incentives are in there to protect the team is nothing short of gross.
The Dallas Cowboys had an operating income of are $564 million in 2023 per Statista. $500,000 is around .08 percent of that number. Jones wouldn’t even know if that money went missing. Instead, Rush misses out on a nearly 20% bonus. Players and agents take note of these types of things. And it shows why Dallas hasn’t reached an NFC Championship Game in three decades now.