Jerry Jones Said He Was 'Proud' to See NFL P.R. Chief Joe Lockhart Leave Role

Former NFL executive vice president of communications and public affairs Joe Lockhart stepped down from his post in January, and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apparently wasn't saddened by the news. 

"I was proud to see him go," Jones said under oath during deposition testimony, according to Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).

As Florio reported, a theory was floated in the past that Jones relented on his reported misgivings regarding a contract extension for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in exchange for a "real change in the layer of management just below the Commissioner."

And Florio surmised that Lockhart's departure was one of the changes Jones wanted:

"The fact that Jones would feel pride implies that he also feels responsible. Otherwise, what would he be proud about? (Example: Who would say, 'I was proud to see the sun rise this morning?')

"Lockhart apparently sealed his fate by engaging the President after the notorious Alabama 'get that son of a bitch off the field' comment, calling the President’s comments 'divisive' and making a snarky reference to 'locker-room talk.'"

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe also suspected Lockhart's politics may not have sat well with many of the league's owners:

Jones' comments during the deposition of the Colin Kaepernick collusion case against the NFL also revealed that President Donald Trump contacted him regarding the player protests of police brutality and racial inequality during the playing of the National Anthem.

"Tell everybody, you can't win this one," Trump told Jones, per Beaton (h/t Tom Schad of USA Today). "This one lifts me."