Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he doesn’t feel he has to make a quick decision about the future of coach Mike McCarthy, whose contract expires after Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Washington Commanders.
“I’m not under any unusual time frame,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan.
After the 2019 season ended, Jones hired McCarthy a week after the final game to replace Jason Garrett, who had held the position full-time for nine seasons. When Bill Parcells left after the 2006 season, Jones interviewed 11 candidates before hiring Wade Phillips.
Jones was noncommittal when discussing McCarthy’s future.
“What I’m not going to do this morning is give any indication that I’m not interested in having Mike back,” Jones said. “I don’t want that to be the case at all. We have this game ahead of us, but I assure you I’ve been thinking for weeks about how we move forward after this season.”
On Monday, McCarthy decided not to discuss whether he would like to return or explore other options since he could become a free agent coach.
“I need to make sure I’m doing exactly what I’m asking everyone else to do. We need to finish the race,” McCarthy said. “It’s been a challenging year, based on our contractual situation for the coaches. It’s obvious, but we’ll have time to talk about that next week.”
Asked Tuesday if McCarthy had given any indication about whether he wanted to return, Jones said: “Well, I feel good about Mike McCarthy, and the main thing is that I like the job he’s done. It’s unfortunate that we’re having the year that we have.” I had, but I feel good with Mike.”
Jones again praised the job McCarthy did this season as injuries piled up and left the Cowboys with about $90 million of cap space on injured reserve. At 7-9, the Cowboys will finish with their second losing record during McCarthy’s tenure. They went 6-10 in 2020 after Dak Prescott suffered a dislocation and fracture of his right ankle in the fifth game of the season. This season, Prescott suffered a right hamstring avulsion that required surgery in the eighth game.
“I think you can really dig deep into anyone when it comes to controversy,” Jones said.
Jones said he doesn’t think the fact that McCarthy and the coaching staff were in the final years of their contracts was a distraction during the season.
“I think in normal life, outside of training, most of us operate without a guaranteed contract for next year,” Jones said. “For me, I’ve seen people who also do better when they don’t have a contract.”
When asked how he would sell McCarthy’s return in 2025, despite one playoff win in three postseasons, Jones focused attention on the roster and the return to health of players like Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs, while time that highlighted injuries to the team’s best pass rushers, such as Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and Sam Williams.
“When I look at where we are with our talent level,” Jones said, “I feel really good that we have the core of a team that can compete.”
