Peyton Manning Takes Shot At Jerry Jones During CMA Awards

Peyton Manning clearly has no qualms with kicking Jerry Jones while he's down ... the NFL legend roasted the Dallas Cowboys owner during the CMAs on Wednesday night!

The popshot came during the award show's opening monologue ... as Manning, Lainey Wilson and Luke Bryan were delivering some punch lines while reflecting back on another year of country music.

The trio mostly ribbed one other ... but when Wilson intro'd Kelsea Ballerini to the audience -- Manning couldn't help but take a jab at Jones.

Check out the clip, Lainey mentions Ballerini's hit with Noah Kahan, "Cowboys Cry Too," when Manning abruptly interrupts.

"Uh," he said into his mic, "but enough about Jerry Jones!"

The crowd let a out a huge groan ... before bursting into laughter.

It was all, of course, in good fun -- very few are off limits during award shows' monologues ... especially high-profile team owners who are in charge of middling 3-7 squads.

But, there was at least one member of the audience who surely didn't love the dig -- Post Malone!

The musician actually opened the show with a set of Dallas Cowboys in-ear monitors ... and we're sure he would have rather heard any other joke from Manning while onstage.