FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he does not feel like he has to make quick decision on 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 at all,” 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 full-time job for nine seasons. When Bill Parcells walked away 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 to get into any indication one way or the other that I’m not interested in having Mike back,” Jones said. “I don’t want that to be the case at all. We got this game ahead of us, but I’ll assure you I’ve been for weeks thinking about how we’ll go forward after this season.”
On Monday, McCarthy chose not to discuss whether he would like to return or explore other options since he could become a coaching free agent.
“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 contract situation for coaches. It’s stating the obvious, but we’ll have time to talk about that next week.”
Asked Tuesday if McCarthy has given any indication if he wants to return, Jones said, “Well, I feel good about Mike McCarthy, and the main thing is that I like that job that he’s done. It’s unfortunate we’re having the year we had, but I feel good about Mike.”
Jones was complimentary again of the job McCarthy did this season as the injuries piled up and left the Cowboys with about $90 million of salary cap space on injured reserve. At 7-9, the Cowboys will finish with their second losing record in 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 really get a deep dive into anyone when they’re dealing with controversy,” Jones said.
Jones said he does not believe the fact that McCarthy and the coaching staff were on the final years of their contracts was a distraction during the season.
“I think in regular life, away from coaching, you have most of us that operate without a guaranteed contract for next year,” Jones said. “That, to me, I’ve seen people do better as well when they don’t have a contract.”
When asked how he would sell the return of McCarthy in 2025, despite one playoff win in three postseasons, Jones turned the focus to the roster and the return to health of players such as Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs, while noting the injuries to the team’s top 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 real good that we’ve got the nucleus of a team that can compete.”
