This was black and white when it came to Dontari Poe.
When the Dallas Cowboys released the veteran defensive tackle, some believed that owner Jerry Jones partially made the move because Poe kneeled for the national anthem.
According to the team’s owner, it had nothing to do with that, but more with his play on the football field.
“When you’re 30 pounds overweight and you’re not doing anything about what’s keeping you from performing well on the field, there is no reason to get into the other stuff,” said Jones, via ESPN on Wednesday.
When it came to questions about the anthem, Jones refused to answer.
“I understand your question and I’m deliberately not going to answer it,” Jones told ESPN. “We have a platform here but the platform on the football field has a high standard, and he [Poe] was not up to the standard. He needed to correct that and he did not. I’m going to leave it at that.”
The NFL Trade Deadline is on November 3rd and the team looks to be ready to spend this next week in the midst of a firesale. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Cowboys have informed Poe and cornerback Daryl Worley are on the trade block.
“The Cowboys have informed DT Dontari Poe and CB Daryl Worley they’ll be released if Dallas can’t trade them today,” Pelissero reported. “Big changes continue for Dallas D.”
This conversation took place just one day before Poe’s release.
More moves could be on the way, but that could depend on the outcome from Sunday’s game. Despite falling to 2-5 after their 25-3 loss to the Washington Football Team on Sunday, the Cowboys trail the 2-4-1 Philadelphia Eagles by 0.5 games.
The Cowboys play the Eagles on Sunday, which will prove to point the direction of the franchise for the rest of the season.