The parity in the NFL has obviously helped the league grow. The majority of teams are in the playoff race and 23 teams still have a chance of at least a .500 record with three weeks remaining.
The days of the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers combining to win six Super Bowls in eight seasons has been replaced with 10 different Super Bowl champs over the last 15 years.
That parity comes from having a salary cap. Without one, Jerry Jones would be able to spend like the New York Yankees in an attempt to get that fourth Lombardi Trophy he so badly covets.
But even Jones understands that's not good business for the NFL.
"When we did our labor agreement three years ago, I visited with all the other owners and frankly on my part it was an effort to do what I could do to keep everybody together, keep all the owners together," Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. "But during my conversations, whether in front of whole group or individually, I would say, 'Look, the Cowboys can take this hand any way you want to deal it. If you want to just completely not have a system, completely not even something as absurd and ludicrous as not having a draft, you want to play that game that way, then let's just line up out here and go get the players and do what we have to do to go get them, the Cowboys can play that game.'
"I can tell you there are certain things that are positive about that for the Cowboys, but it's not in the best interest and it isn't in the best interest of our sport. All you've got to do is look at where we are today and you look at the competition that's out here. All you do is look at the standings in the NFL. I think there are three teams that have nine wins or more and everybody else is in there within a game up or down of each other to speak of. You've got two or three on the bottom as well. This thing is close. It's highly competitive.
"Every team has got great players on the other side of the ball and the incentive is there. It's just a real challenge. It creates a lot of interest. It creates a lot of interest in my town against your town. New York here we come two times a year. Same thing with Washington. Plus all over the league. I don't know how you can argue with the success that the system has. But we were ready to go and I was ready to go. I really got into this thing for one reason and that was to win these ball games. It's been amazing to me that it's been the challenge that it's been to win the ball games."
Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
