The Dallas Cowboys' (7-9) 2024 season finale on Sunday afternoon against the Washington Commanders will not alter team owner and general manager Jerry Jones' evaluation of head coach Mike McCarthy and his coaching staff.
McCarthy and his staff's original, five-year coaching contracts that began in 2020 are set to expire on Jan. 14, per NFL Media, which gives Jones a little over a week to make a call on whether or not to retain his current group.
"The hay is in the barn as far as our staff is concerned," Jones said, via The Athletic, on 105.3 The Fan on Friday. ... "I don't think something would happen out here Sunday that would impact where we're gonna be as we go forward."
However, the 2025 coaching carousel candidates field which includes former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, to name a few, won't be "a big factor" in Jones' decision on whether or not to retain McCarthy and his staff.
"Not a lot," Jones said, via The Athletic, on 105.3 The Fan on Friday. "That is a big key. But in this particular case, that is not a big factor."
McCarthy has led Dallas to a 49-34 record in his almost complete five seasons in charge, including a run of three consecutive 12-5 seasons from 2021 to 2023. The two years the team has missed the playoffs under McCarthy, 2020 and 2024, have included critical injuries, including season-enders for quarterback Dak Prescott (fractured ankle in 2020, hamstring tear in 2024). The rub with those three 12-5 seasons is that they finished with a combined 1-3 record in the postseason, making those 2021-2023 Cowboys the first team to win at least 12 games three years in a row and not make a conference championship game since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger.
McCarthy confirmed on Friday that he hasn't yet had a conversation with Jones about his Dallas future, but that those conversations will begin to take place next week.
"We have not had conversations, and I do just anticipate that we'll stay on a schedule that's similar to what we've done in the past," McCarthy said on a conference call on Friday. "That would mean we would start our meetings next week and go through the evaluation process."
The coaching staff is far from the only members of the organization readying for free agency: the Cowboys have a laundry list of pending free agents from their roster including top running back Rico Dowdle, Pro Bowl returner KaVontae Turpin, and a couple of franchise cornerstones in right guard Zack Martin and edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence.
"I think clearly the messaging that's been used this week, particularly at the start of the week in my Wednesday team meeting, everyone is clear on what this game brings and the position everybody's in," McCarthy said when asked about addressing the elephant in the room in terms of the collective group's futures.
Cowboys notable free agents (2025 offseason)
- Head coach Mike McCarthy and his entire coaching staff
- QB Trey Lance
- QB Cooper Rush
- RB Rico Dowdle
- WR Brandin Cooks
- WR KaVontae Turpin
- RG Zack Martin
- DT Osa Odighizuwa
- DE DeMarcus Lawrence
- LB Eric Kendricks
- CB Jourdan Lewis
- S Juanyeh Thomas
- P Bryan Anger
- LS Trent Sieg
Prescott told CBS Sports in a one-on-one interview that he would like McCarthy to return, but if Jones doesn't make a decision by Jan. 14, he and the rest of his staff will be free to discuss vacancies around the rest of the league as free agents themselves. As a Super Bowl champion head coach who has guided his squads to the postseason in 12 of his 18 seasons as an NFL head coach, McCarthy would likely garner interest from other teams with openings. Jones and other Cowboys players effusively praised McCarthy's efforts after the team's 26-24 upset victory over the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16.
"It meant so much to us to get the win," Jones said postgame in Week 16. "That's an outstanding team out there, a playoff team out there [in the Buccaneers]. A playoff team. The key thing is that the defense, [defensive coordinator] Mike Zimmer, Mike McCarthy, the players ... they're fighting all the way. There's no question we're fighting with a very limited deck out here right now, and those guys are doing a great job. My hat is off to Mike McCarthy."
Given the existing deadline for Jones to make a decision about McCarthy and his staff's future, the football world will have a resolution in the coming weeks.
