FRISCO – Jerry Jones is the NFL’s most inviting punching bag clown – remember, when you were a kid, that punching bag clown, with the big red nose and the sand in his butt? – for three reasons.

One, Jerry puts his name on the Cowboys marquee … for credit and blame.

Two, His style – from 1989’s “jocks and socks” to today at an un-mellowed age 82 – makes him a magnet to some for “punch-ability.”

And three, like that inflatable kid’s clown, no matter how ferociously you attack him … he always swings back up, like an upside-down pendulum … with a gigantic grin on his face …

Happily willing to let his attackers punch him again.

When Jerry issued to a handful of us his pre-draft proclamation about “substantive” trades being in the works, many skeptically yawned.

“We’re looking at two things that could happen before or after the draft,” Jones said to us a couple days before the draft. “Two pretty substantive trades.”

So, what happened?

The Cowboys were linked by CowboysCountry.com to trade talks for George Pickens of the Steelers and to a first-round trade-down.

So … Our reporting suggests the Cowboys made and received calls about a major trade or two. And now the most tangible proof that we were right and that Jerry was truthful …

ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio essentially called Jones a liar for tipping us off about a coming deal.

“Fans and media have begun to wake up to the notion that Cowboys owner and Jerry Jones is more carnival barker than trophy chaser,” he wrote. “It’s not about winning, it’s about being interesting. …

“Jerry probably shouldn’t have excitedly announced “Hey guys, we’re working on some big trades!”. Lots of teams made calls about deals that never happened during the draft.”

Oops.

Jerry and the Cowboys did the deal. He told the truth. So now. critics like Florio who pretty much called him a “lying clown” are now apologizing.

Ha ha. Just kidding.

The Cowboys have Pickens as the elite No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb that not only cashes in on Jones’ promise but also vaults the team up the ladder in the NFC East and NFL.

And Florio?

“Jerry said they were working on substantive trades, and I said it was (expletive) and that ‘Hey Jerry, we’re waiting,” Florio said on his Wednesday PFT podcast. “Well now they’ve got a receiver who has lots of untapped potential but in Pittsburgh who was, let’s face it, a malcontent. I knew for sure Pickens was going to be traded once they got DK.”

Read that again. No, you’re not overlooking the “I was wrong” mea culpa.

Don’t waste your time trying to decipher an “I was wrong” out of that quote because you won’t find one.

I’ve covered Jerry’s Cowboys for 36 years. I’ve seen the clownish marketing-first approach (and ripped it relentlessly). And Ive dealt with some exaggerations and some misdeeds and some lies, too.

But the “insider” who is trying to sell clicks by being disingenuous about what Jerry’s Cowboys just accomplished?

That’s carnival-barking. That’s lying. And we doubt that most of these showboating critics would, if you punched ‘em in their inflated egos, would rock back up atop his sand-filled butt smiling.

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