This came up in the thread I started about the NFL's hiring practices. I mostly don't buy it. I'm sure there are owners who are content to cash 'dem checks and don't care how the team does (Donald Sterling comes to mind), but I definitely don't think that explains all, or even most, of them. Daniel Snyder is a lifelong Washington fan who desperately wants to win, but can't get out of his own way. The only plausible explanation is that he's just not very good at his job and makes dumb moves that are clearly irrational (even in the moment, literally no one thought signing Albert Haynesworth was a good idea). Jerry Jones is another one who made one very smart decision 30 years ago to hire Jimmy Johnson and has screwed up lots of things since, including making himself the GM. He made another smart move in recent years in handing responsibilities over to his more analytical son, and it was Stephen who (
barely) talked him into drafting Zack Martin over Johnny Manziel in 2014. Then again, it was some combination of Jerry and Stephen who decided to hire Mike McCarthy.
In other words, I reject your hypothesis that they don't care about winning, but I also reject
@PhillipPhoto's hypothesis that their desire to win means they are, by definition, acting rationally.