FRISCO – Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones had said his piece over the course of Monday’s coach Brian Schottenheimer press conference here inside The Star, and was fast-walking toward the elevator … literally with a deal-closing interview with defensive coordinator-to-be Matt Eberflus awaiting.

So I had to move fast. And did, scooting into Stephen’s elevator.

And I had to talk fast. Because the Cowboys elevator only goes up so many floors. (No, I’m not trying to be snarky.)

Shortly after Stephen now-infamously used his fingers as “air quotes” as a way of minimizing the team’s 29-year title “drought,” he hinted that their approach to how they build a roster in this offseason might change.

Said Stephen in the presser: “We’re going to take a long, hard look at how we’ve looked at free agency. And if we need to change some things there, we will.”

Added dad Jerry, with both a boast and a concession: “I want our fans to know that I do real good managing (the cap) … But we obviously haven’t done it well enough.”

That admission is a start, because the truth is, all 32 teams “manage the cap.” How do we know which teams, though, actually “do real good”?

That’s measured by championship contention. And the 29-year evidence is in: Dallas is not “real good” at it.

So, to the elevator, where there wasn’t time to present the specifics of my “$100 million case,” with the numbers that prove that Dallas doesn’t have to be “really, really tight” (Stephen’s words) against the cap in 2025.

I mention to Stephen that Cowboys Nation’s ears are going to perk up when they reflect on his suggestion that “a long, hard look” at “change” is being considered.

“Yeah,” he replied, agreeing that those statements sound promising to his fans.

He added, “We’ve looked at that outside before. … We’ve done it. We’ve been in heavy.”

OK. Now we’re getting somewhere.

But then Stephen falls back to a pair of ol’-reliable rote answers.

He said, “We’re probably a little tightened down more than before, this time around, because of the magnitude of what we’re doing with Dak (Prescott) and CeeDee (Lamb) and Micah (Parsons). …”

And then he said, “Two years ago, we traded for (Stephon) Gilmore and for a veteran player in (Brandin) Cooks and really helped our football team.” …”

And of course, those two 2023 offseason deals (a fifth-round pick was send to the Colts for Gilmore and a fifth- and a sixth- to the Texans for Cooks) were fruitful and smart. But … that was two years ago. And the result – again, title contention – was not good enough.

Finally, as Stephen zipped away, I brought up “void years” and “flipping the switch” as it relates to the present deals for Dak and Lamb, and Stephen budged. Just a little bit.

“You can do certain things,” he said, and your ears are allowed to perk up again.

Then he added, “There’s limitations to it, though.”

If you ask this year’s two Super Bowl GM’s, Brett Veach in Kansas City and Howie Roseman in Philadelphia, you will hear they use terms like “super-aggressive” to describe how they’ve stayed on top. (The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl for the fifth time in six years; the NFC East rival Eagles are in The Big Game for the third time in eight years.)

Little wonder it bothers Cowboys Nation to hear Stephen to address the same cap issues that those teams have by citing “limitations.”

During the presser, Jerry said of fans being mad at him: “Well, I understand that. I’m mad at me right now. But the issue is what are we gonna do about it. I’m the best man to do something about it.”

And later, Stephen added, “You always have to evaluate yourself. When you’re not having success you have to look at it.”

After 29 years, the Joneses owe it to their audience and to themselves to be “the best men” by first admitting they are “not having success” … and then by taking action.

Put down the “air quotes,” fellas. And pick up the calculator and the pen and the $100 million checkbook.