FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones initially labeled the 2024 NFL season as "all in" before changing his outward motto to "get it done with less."
He unofficially unveiled the real themes of the offseason after the team's preseason finale against the Los Angeles Chargers: "angst, pressure and competing."
"Absolutely, I do. I really do [believe you get people's best with their backs against the wall]," Jones said. "There's no question in my mind that angst, pressure, competing will bring out the best in this game from coaches and players. But in this game, this game has to have some extra [fire] over the guys that you're in front of [on the field]. That's why I'm kind of amazed at someone talking about the job they're doing without a contract. Blows my mind."
Jones has created angst, pressure and competition for Mike McCarthy, his entire coaching staff and numerous key contributors, including quarterback Dak Prescott, by having almost everyone associated with the franchise on the final year of their current contracts. The only ones seemingly safe are 2023 first-team All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb -- who signed a four-year, $136 million contract -- and Rowdy, the team's mascot.
Why is Jones operating this way? Well, he is still stewing about the second-seeded Cowboys' embarrassing 48-32 NFC wild-card round defeat against the Green Bay Packers, a game they trailed by scores of 27-0 and 48-16.
"We all have Green Bay on our mind," Jones said. "We all have it on our mind, and we know until we can get that addressed, then we're going to always have a bad taste on that."
That has left McCarthy, the head coach with the best regular-season winning percentage (62.7%) of any coach in Cowboys history, bearing much of the brunt of Jones' ire.The latest postseason defeat was startling, and the Cowboys became the first team since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to win at least 12 regular season games three years in a row and not reach a conference championship game. However, under McCarthy, Dallas is winning -- in the regular season -- like it's the 1990s Cowboys' Super Bowl dynasty years again.
"I mean, you have to be. That's part of the job description," McCarthy said Monday when asked about being better equipped to handle losing. "Some jobs are harder than others. Definitely aware of that. I just look at that [increased public scrutiny because of Jones' comments] as part of the job. The hardest part about scrutiny is really, I would think every head coach would answer it this way, it's really not about standing up here in front of the cameras or in front of you wonderful people, it's really your families. That's the group that has to learn to deal with it. For me, I just look at that as part of my job responsibility."
Cowboys notable free agents (2025 offseason)
- Head coach Mike McCarthy and his entire coaching staff
- QB Dak Prescott
- QB Trey Lance
- QB Cooper Rush
- RB Ezekiel Elliott
- RB Rico Dowdle
- WR CeeDee Lamb
- WR Brandin Cooks
- WR KaVontae Turpin
- RG Zack Martin
- DT Osa Odighizuwa
- DE DeMarcus Lawrence
- LB Eric Kendricks
- CB Jourdan Lewis
- S Markquese Bell
- S Juanyeh Thomas
- P Bryan Anger
- LS Trent Sieg
McCarthy became reflective when asked about entering the final year of his five-year coaching contract, citing a life lesson from his father and indicting his tenure has flown by in the blink of an eye.
"Thirty five. Dog years, right? … No, it's frankly it's gone too fast," McCarthy said. "I think anytime in life the older you get, the faster it goes. My father told me quite a long time ago, haven't done a great job listening to him, that when life's flying by it tells you you're doing too much. It's going too fast. So something I try to pay attention to. Obviously in this industry, it's challenging and I'm talking more about missing things with your family and always keeping that the priority. The time allotment doesn't indicate that, but I was raised family first, and I still believe that. But it's gone fast. And I think when you play, when you have long seasons and your offseason, you have a lot of change it kind of all runs together. We felt a lot of change the last couple of years."
Slowing down has been McCarthy's biggest life lesson he takes away from the last four years serving as Jones' head coach in addition to how to develop a relationship with a big shot, billionaire owner. That's not something McCarthy had to deal with as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers (2006-2018) since the owners are anyone from Frank from Oshkosh and Tom from Menomonee Falls.
"The most? I think if you don't learn in this league, especially at this position, then you're definitely going too fast," McCarthy said. "Slowing down to absorb the great lessons of the pro and con that you're able to interact with on a daily basis, I've learned so much just being here. I've learned a lot about, I mean, just the game of football. It's an evolving door of trends, so staying on top of that. That's a challenge I've always enjoyed, being a part of that. So football-wise, I think the organizational development and interaction of a football program and the business component of it, this is a totally different environment than I've worked in the past. So there's been tremendous lessons there that you can pay forward. Yeah, so many different things. Anytime you have an opportunity to sit down with Jerry Jones, you're going to listen and learn and that's something that I'm thankful for. He's exposed me to things that I was not exposed to before just through conversation and his experiences. So very grateful for that. Yeah I could go on and on. I mean relationship wise, I can't say enough about this coaching staff and this locker room. They're built the right way and we've done the work in the offseason. I feel like we've had a very, very productive training camp and it's time. That's really what today [Monday] was about. It's time to go win a game."
Uncharted territory
Even his players are aware that 2024 is rare in terms of scrutiny from Jones and the front office with 24 players on expiring contracts, according to OverTheCap.com. Starting nickel cornerback Jourdan Lewis, a 2017 third-round pick who is entering his eighth season in Dallas, notices the difference.
"Not that I can say no," Lewis, who is one of the many Cowboys on one-year deals, said Monday when asked if he can recall a season where so many people's futures in the organization were on the line simultaneously. "But it felt like that for the last few years. Coach [Dan] Quinn when he put that collection of talent together, and we never really played together. It just felt like every year we were trying to prove ourselves honestly. It's no different for me. I've been trying to prove myself since Day 1 in this league, and I still am. I feel like it's the same approach on defense, but we definitely have different schemes and different things that we're doing on defense [with Mike Zimmer]. So I feel like that's a difference."
The upcoming season in Dallas is forcing almost everyone to reckon with how fast life changes in the National Football League.
"Bro, I've been treating it like that [like I'm on a one-year deal] since I've been here," Lewis said. "Every year is a different year, and that's how you have to treat it. Every team is different, and you have to approach it like that. You can't approach it as 'OK, let's continue from the year's past.' You got to look at it as a different team because it is a different team. It's a different field, different opponents. Everywhere in this league honestly. It [NFL] stands for Not For Long. You better get it right as long as you can."
McCarthy showed up at Prescott's foundation's (Faith, Fight Finish) fundraiser gala on May 17 with his wife Jessica, and he is someone Prescott hopes can remain with the Cowboys for a long time.
"He's first off, a hell of a coach, but a better man," Prescott said. "I think as you said, showing up to my foundation gala, to showing up for people off the field, for being who he is and always having the conversations and understanding players for the people that they are, having those conversations with them one-on-one. It's been a fast five years. Obviously it started off rough in 2020 [when Prescott fractured his ankle], but just to see the trend that we're going in, for him taking over the offense now going into the second year of it, a lot to be excited about. A guy I owe so much to. I think of him much more than a coach. He's a friend. He's a special guy."
The head coach coaxed special play out of his quarterback in his first season as the Cowboys offensive play-caller: Prescott registered the best passer rating of his eight-year career (105.9, second-best in the NFL) in 2023 while he became the first quarterback in Dallas history to lead the NFL outright in passing touchdowns (36) last season. His and McCarthy's contract situations have forced Prescott to zero-in on the task in front them, which is facing the Cleveland Browns in Week 1. In that regard, Jones is accomplishing the vibes he was looking for.
On the other hand, Jones created an environment in which his coaches and many top players are forced to confront and get comfortable with the idea that they may no longer be a Dallas Cowboy. Thus, perhaps accidentally forging a culture where many have on foot out the door. Time will tell if that frame of mind results in the deeper playoff run Jones so desperately thirsts for ahead of his 82nd birthday on Oct. 13.
"Yeah, for sure. You've got to love it, honestly," Prescott said. "You've got to love it. You've got to embrace it. That's the challenge. We as the players or the coaches don't have the full say in whether we're here or not. So it's about us controlling what we can. Right now it's about sticking together, making this locker room, embracing this culture, embracing one another, not putting necessarily pressure on ourselves but understanding that this team won't be the same after this, whether it be the coaches, whether it be the players, whether it be some of the key pieces, I just doubt it will be the same. And that's just the business of it. Yeah, it's now. Period."