JANUARY 3: McCarthy’s contract will expire Jan. 14, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note. This would mean the Cowboys could block McCarthy from interviewing elsewhere between season’s end and that date. Reminding of the Cowboys’ two offseasons in which Garrett was on an expiring deal, the team will have barely week between season’s end and that expiration date to negotiate an extension without the threat of other teams looming.
While the Cowboys have not closed the door on McCarthy staying, Rapoport and Pelissero indicate no substantive extension talks have taken place. With teams not being able to meet in-person with candidates until after the divisional round, McCarthy would not run the risk of being frozen out of this coaching cycle by this contract timeline. He should be expected to draw HC interest elsewhere, Rapoport adds.
JANUARY 2: Coming off a 41-7 loss to an Eagles team missing Jalen Hurts, the Cowboys saw their late-season momentum blunted. Mike McCarthy‘s contract covers one more game, the team’s season-ender against Washington. Will that be it for him in Dallas?
The Cowboys took the highly unusual step of letting McCarthy coach out his contract, driving numerous headlines about his future and how the organization plans to replace him. But some buzz about McCarthy receiving a second Cowboys contract has surfaced in recent weeks. At least, no definitive indication the team will fire McCarthy has emerged.
[RELATED: Jones Does Not Believe McCarthy’s Contract Affected Season]
McCarthy and his assistants are on expiring deals, which would make for a cleaner transition. Waiting until season’s end to make a call, the Cowboys are not tipping their hand. They plan to meet with their fifth-year HC next week, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. McCarthy’s contract makes this one of the stranger situations over the past several coaching carousels, however.
Because McCarthy will have coached throughout a five-year deal, he will be free to explore other opportunities. Teams could interview the former Super Bowl-winning leader immediately, as only coaches under contract would need to wait until divisional-round week. Some around the league believe McCarthy has a “small” chance to stay in Dallas, per Fowler. While that is not especially optimistic, it also represents an improvement based on where the embattled HC’s chances were when Dak Prescott sustained a season-ending injury. Prescott has since provided a strong endorsement for McCarthy.
Third-chance HCs are not too common anymore. No active coaches are on their third try, though we do not have to too far back to find leaders who match that description. Jon Gruden received two shots with the Raiders, with his Buccaneers stay sandwiched in between, while Pete Carroll wrapped a third NFL HC stint last season and John Fox did so within the past decade. The Jets also are interviewing Ron Rivera about what would be a third opportunity, while Rex Ryan may be in the mix for a third chance himself. McCarthy being an active coach would seemingly boost his chances here, even if he might not be the first choice anywhere.
A candidate pool not viewed as especially deep would work in McCarthy’s favor in Dallas and potentially elsewhere. The weak candidate crop will affect McCarthy’s future in Dallas, per Fowler, who adds the coach could look at Chicago soon. Some around the league view this the Bears’ opening as one that would appeal to McCarthy, who is now 61. This is not to definitively say the Bears would be interested, but a veteran offensive mind would stand to be intrigued by the Chicago opening due to Caleb Williams‘ presence.
While McCarthy is 7-9 this season, he is 49-34 in Dallas. Jerry Jones cited the wild-card letdown against the Packers last season as why McCarthy did not receive an extension on the back of his three straight 12-win seasons. That certainly could push McCarthy to explore other options, should any arise, but Jason Garrett‘s tenure also shows Jones has been willing to stick with an unpopular coach for an extended period. Garrett coached the Cowboys for 9 1/2 seasons. McCarthy will need another contract soon if Jones has designs on him staying for a sixth.
If it ain’t broke, don’t try to fix it!
Or if it is broke, get lazy and don’t fix it!
Good fit. Bad head coach for bad organization!
I’ve suspected he’d stay after how long it took to for Jason Garrett to leave.
Does he want to stay? That team has been mediocre for about 30 years.
I used to think McCarthy was horrible, but I’ve softened a little bit on him. He’s a solid coach and his players seem to play hard for him. He’s managed to go 4-4 with Cooper Rush at QB, and only one of those losses was a blowout (against the Eagles and without Lamb).
One thing they need to do is fire Zimmer, though. Took over a team that was 5th in the league in points allowed (18.5 per game) and turned it into a defense that is 31st in points allowed with 27.8 per game.
Dan Quinn is certainly a better DC and head coach than Zimmer, who always looks like he had too much to drink last week. Zimmer is not the worst DC in the league, but the Cowboys could certainly do better. It’s ironic that the Cowboys have about half of the HC years of the 2010’s in NFC central as head coach and DC. Just need to find another fired HC from the NFC central to install as OC.
Quinn’s absence is definitely felt by the Cowboys.
@Alec Kinnear
Marc Trestman is always available
Hardly Zimmers fault
Dorance Armstrong left for WAS
Dante Fowler left for WAS
Stephon Gilmore left for MIN
Jonathan Hankins left for SEA
Neville Gallimore left for MIA
Team lost a lot of depth esp up front on the dline they never replaced due to cap issues.
Bland also missed 10 games among others
Defense as been a patch work defense minute zimmer took the job.
Plus diggs Lawrence and parsons majority missed time as well
All NFL teams suffer injuries, all NFL teams lose personnel to free agency. Parsons is a one-man game wrecker. Losing Parsons for four games was not easy, but Zimmer did have Parsons for 12 games and 9.5 sacks.
Correct. All teams lose personnel to injury and free agency
But, and this is a big but, Most teams try to replace the players they lost either via free agency or draft
Chargers had to cut n trade Williams and Allen to cap issues. They signed Chark and drafted McConkey. Lost Ekeler signed Dobbins. Lost Lindsey signed Bozeman.
Texans lost Perryman signed Al Shazir, lost Rankins signed Fatuskonso, lost Nelson drafted Lassiter.
There’s usually attempts made to replace guys somehow
Cowboys lost 3 DTs to free agency. Between draft and free agency you’d assume they’d get 3 back to fill the vacancies.
How many DTs did they sign? 0 due to cap issues
How many did they draft? 1 in the 7th round
Cowboys cap issues really affected their ability to not only sign guys in free agency but they didn’t address it in the draft either.
Instead of Guyton they should have taken TVondre Sweat out or Texas
Instead of the project like Kneeland they should have taken Rosengarten at T or
Beede was a fine pick and Liufau was ok too.
But again. This isn’t Zimmers fault cowboys failed to properly manage their finances and didn’t properly address guys leaving in free agency. That falls on McCarthy and Jones
It typically takes longer to build an OL than a DL, hence the two top 2024 draft choices at LT and C.
The Liufau pick was panned at the time but has aged well. We’ll see on the others. Roster construction and finances falls on the GM, McCarthy doesn’t have much say in either.
With plenty of holes to fill this offseason, DT may have to take a backseat to WR and RB. Throw some of the 5th round comp picks at the depth at all 3 positions plus CB.
@Bring San Diego: very fine points but that defense is awful. It’s potentially the worst in the league. And look at Zimmer’s career as a DC. In 15 years as a DC, He’s ranked above 5th in points allowed just once, and that was 22 years ago. He had some great defenses in Minnesota as a HC, but his defenses the last couple of years there were atrocious.
Sure, he doesn’t have the personnel, but there are a lot of defenses that you can say that about and not all of them look as bad as the Cowboys (who still had Micah Parsons). I would fire him.
That’s the thing about McCarty. I agree that’s overall he’s a solid, not spectacular coach and that the job he’s done this year has markedly improved as the season has gone on.
If you dump McCarthy and go look for a new HC, you have to be aware that 1) you have to hire someone better and 2) you have to spend money to do it.
Well, McCarthy has a solid track record, and Dallas gets a ton of media attention. Do you really want to put an unknown or unproven HC in that spot? With Jerry getting older and more impatient? And speaking of Jerry, we know he’ll spend on players, but not so much on coaches. So in all likelihood you’re already looking at candidates who are less successful (I.e. cheaper) than McCarthy.
It’s what I say to the same tiresome group of Steelers fans who want Tomlin replaced every week of every season: who do you replace him with? You really want to take a chance on hiring the wrong first time coach this time around? Nine or ten wins every season isn’t ideal, but it’s a lot better than having no hope at all.
Normally it would be easy to fire him, but how can you with the bone head moves and contract signings they’ve made. Plus you have to live the way he holds his play sheet like a Denny’s menu.
I figured he’d be anxious to beat feet out of Dallas …felt like he was sort of at a disadvantage with portions of the roster he had to deal with (?). Would think he’d garner interest/ land elsewhere in some capacity in fairly short order.
I think it would be hilarious if McCarthy played hard to get now 🙂 He’s a free agent, he should show interest in the Jacksonville job, assuming it opens up. Dak Prescott did so well working with him, I’m sure the Jaguars would love to see Trevor Lawrence progress that much. Dallas left him unsigned & wondering if he’d have a job in 2025, now he should leave them wondering if he’ll come back!
Losing McCarthy would not be a big deal, plus the Cowboys HC job is about as good as it gets. High visibility, great draft and development program. Two-year extension of existing deal is probably the best compromise for both sides in an off-year.
Plus Dallas has the league’s best Owner/GM.
The Giants are still dealing with the embarrassment of letting Barkley go to the Eagles. Perhaps poaching McCarthy away from the Cowboys could alleviate some of the pain.
Well…if Mike wants to stay
…so be it
They might as well keep Mike since Jerry won’t pay for a high profile guy. His only hope was sanders and sanders but resigning Dak messed that up.
Considering he’s been working with a backup QB most of season and the cowboys are 7-9 that’s a good coaching job
Mike McCarthy is JJ’s kind of guy. Loyal and not obviously incompetent. Jason Garrett 2.0
I thought Jason Garret was obviously incompetent, at least after the first few years.