From last offseason through Week 17 of the ongoing campaign, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy seemingly did everything possible to concentrate on performing tasks related to his job rather than on the fact that he and his entire staff were working on expiring deals.
As the 7-9 Cowboys prepare to close the season out with a home game against the 11-5 Washington Commanders on Sunday, McCarthy addressed the possibility that he could be on the verge of coaching his final contest with his current employer.
"I’ll be honest with you: I go to the stadium much earlier this time in my career than I used to," McCarthy said while speaking with reporters on Thursday, as shared by Jon Machota of The Athletic. "I won a Super Bowl in that home locker room at AT&T Stadium. So I have a very strong emotional attachment that it hits me every time I walk in there and every time I walk out. So, yeah, I’m definitely aware of it. I’m not thinking about it right now, but, yeah, I’m definitely in tune with that."
While the Cowboys went 12-5 each season from 2021-23 under McCarthy, it's believed he didn't receive a contract extension last winter because he thus far has recorded only a single playoff win during his Dallas tenure. Most recently, his team entered Week 6 at 3-2 before an injury crisis sparked a losing streak from which Dallas never fully recovered. The Cowboys later won four of five games to get to 7-8, but they nevertheless were eliminated from the postseason tournament before they played in Week 16.
According to Machota, Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones said as recently as Thursday that he and team owner/general manager Jerry Jones haven't yet "gotten to that point" as it pertains to making a final call on McCarthy's future.
"We've been so focused on this season that we haven't really even thought about it in terms of timing," Stephen Jones explained. "Obviously, Mike McCarthy and his staff have done a hell of a job for us."
The Cowboys reportedly "are not leaning in one direction" regarding McCarthy heading into this weekend, and he was recently linked with a Chicago Bears team that will have quarterback Caleb Williams on an inexpensive rookie contract across the next several seasons. For what it's worth, Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated wrote in a piece published Friday morning that he thinks the Cowboys and McCarthy "could find common ground on a kind of 'extension' that wouldn’t be a full-on, new, four- or five-year industry-standard contract."
Perhaps the parties will put pen to paper on such an agreement before Sunday afternoon rolls around.
