
Adam Schefter: Cowboys expected to play Mike McCarthy situation ‘slower’ relative to rest of NFL
The regular season is officially over in the NFL, and the Dallas Cowboys are done, too. With over half of the league now squarely focused on 2025, that means that over half of the league has business to tend to in order to make sure that this time next year they are preparing for a football game. It would stand to reason that the Cowboys are in this boat, but the reporting is they may be slower than other teams.
As Monday morning unfolded different teams around the league began to at least pick a lane to operate in. Teams like the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins announced late Sunday evening that they would be retaining their head coaches and general managers. The New York Giants hilariously followed suit on Monday morning. On the other side of the spectrum, the New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars added themselves to the list of teams needing a head coach by firing theirs. The point is that action got underway.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter touched on all of this at various points on Get Up and was obviously asked about the Cowboys and their situation what with Mike McCarthy’s contract about to expire. He noted that Dallas is expected to act more slowly relative to the rest of the league.
Adam Schefter just said on @GetUpESPN that his feeling around the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy is that the situation will play itself out slower relative to the rest of the NFL.
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 6, 2025
This is unsurprising if you have been around the block with this franchise. Such a claim can be proven by the Cowboys themselves and receipts kept over just the last handful of days.
Just last Friday, Jerry Jones himself noted that “the hay is in the barn as far as our staff is concerned” and specifically said he did not think anything could happen during Sunday’s season finale that would impact the team’s upcoming decision on McCarthy and his staff.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on @1053thefan on if there’s anything that could happen Sunday that would impact his decision on the future of the team’s coaching staff: “The hay is in the barn as far as our staff is concerned. … I don’t think something would happen out here Sunday…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) January 3, 2025
Odds are that if pressed on this specifically that Jerry would pontificate about the meaning of the “hay is in the barn” analogy, but I digress.
Before Sunday’s action kicked off across the league, ESPN’s Adam Schefter touched on the McCarthy subject and indicated that the read on it all at that moment in time was that McCarthy would be safe. Obviously this is all always subject to change.
Fast forward to the game’s conclusion and Jerry Jones making his usual postgame comments. He predictably noted that no decision was made relative to the matter at hand.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has not made a decision on the future of the team’s head coaching position. When asked about the possibility of other team’s wanting to interview Mike McCarthy, Jones said he’s fine with that. He said he wants to work with people who want to be here.…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) January 5, 2025
You will note in Jon Machota’s tweet that Jerry also touched on the idea of Mike McCarthy potentially interviewing with other teams. Until January 14th, the Cowboys have a right to deny any team that wants to speak with McCarthy about potentially becoming their head coach. To date no team has requested it, although requests are just now starting to trickle in and are primarily centered on the top candidates who are a part of playoff teams.
But you can also look at Machota’s tweet next to his own from just two days prior. The hay went from being in the barn to the team having no clue what was next. Consider that the interview process is indeed underway as noted and that there are currently five teams with head coach vacancies. This means that there are already teams who have an inside track relative to the Cowboys if Dallas does wind up in the market for a new head coach. The team is only hurting itself from a competitive standpoint by going about matters this way.
We have noted this before but will reiterate it in case you missed it or forgot, the last time Dallas moved on from a head coach was Jason Garrett and they obviously missed the playoffs before doing so. The Cowboys then waited until the middle of the Wild Card Round that they were not a part of to finally announce they were moving on from Garrett in a formal way. It feels like history is starting to repeat itself.