The Dallas Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy still appear to be locked in contract talks and with the season ending a week ago, the fact that nothing is done either way is odd.
With so many potential head coaches out there and with Jerry Jones' liking of McCarthy, things have been moving slowly because, of course, right?
With so many threads to pull, there is one element of McCarthy's 2024 season as offensive play-caller that Jerry must take into account, and it might have been something most have forgotten given it was so long ago.
For ESPN, the No. 1 priority this offseason is to sort out this coaching situation (well, duh), but they also included a little nugget that Jerry surely must be aware of.
"Figure out the coaching situation," ESPN writes. "Will Mike McCarthy return, or will team owner Jerry Jones hire his ninth coach since 1989? McCarthy deserves praise for how the team played late in the season when injuries took away key players on both sides of the ball. What happened beforehand, however, has to be reconciled.
“The offense took a major step back -- down more than a touchdown per game in points -- and McCarthy is the playcaller, so that has to fall on him."
ESPN is referencing the early part of the season, the 44-19 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints and the 28-25 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Both happened in consecutive weeks and on both occasions, the Cowboys looked horrendous on offense.
Plus, the wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants in the next two weeks were tough to watch and didn't inspire confidence in McCarthy as a play-caller as Dallas scraped by both.
If McCarthy is to get a new contract with the Cowboys, he must convince Jerry that he can turn the offense around. While what he managed to do late in the season is admirable, the early-season struggles can't be ignored.
