The Cowboys’ Thursday media availability allowed team officials to provide updates on the contract statuses of players like Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons. Head coach Mike McCarthy also faces an uncertain future beyond 2024, however. 
McCarthy was retained following Dallas’ wild-card loss to the Packers, but it soon became clear he would not receive an extension. 2024 is thus the final year of his contract, and to little surprise owner Jerry Jones was asked about the decision to set McCarthy up for a lame-duck campaign. When giving a reason why no new deal was offered, Jones simply replied “Green Bay” (h/t Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News).
The Cowboys’ latest postseason exit came about via an underwhelming home loss to McCarthy’s former team. It was not sufficient for the 60-year-old to be let go, but Jones’ remark confirms a rebound will be needed to ensure he remains in place for 2025 and beyond. Dallas has gone 12-5 in each of the past three seasons, all of which have come during McCarthy’s tenure. The former Super Bowl winner will be counted on to deliver a playoff breakthrough in 2024, but Jones praised him when addressing his situation.
“Mike has shown me that I want to have him and he’s qualified and he’s excellent and the players are excellent and he’s shown me that he could be our coach for years to come, Jones said (via Watkins). “He sits next to me in the draft. I really call on him a lot. If you can’t get along with Mike McCarthy, you can’t get along.”
McCarthy admitted earlier this week that his contract status is “a challenge,” and the Cowboys have plenty of work still to do on the contract front over the coming weeks. The team will nevertheless be expected (at least, internally) to replicate the regular season success of the past three years and in doing so set up a potential postseason run. Coming up short will no doubt lead to increased speculation regarding McCarthy’s job status and the potential of Jones allowing his contract to expire similar to Jason Garrett in 2019.
Bill Belichick has been connected to joining the Cowboys or Eagles next offseason if one or both NFC East teams move on from their coaches. Jones repeated his praise of the six-time Super Bowl winner during the press conference, but for the time being attention will be paid to McCarthy’s performance during what could be his final campaign in Dallas.