The Dallas Cowboys put together their second consecutive 12-win regular season under head coach Mike McCarthy. It was a pretty remarkable feat given the fact that many people wrote them off in Week 1 when Dak Prescott injured his thumb against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is also the first time since 1991-1996 that the Cowboys won double-digit games in consecutive seasons.
Despite that success, some people around the league believe that McCarthy’s job could be in danger. Given how long of a leash Jason Garrett had as head coach of the Cowboys, some would find that hard to believe, but with a free agent as attractive as Sean Payton available, Jerry Jones could look to make a change.
Payton is going to be a popular name this off-season when it comes to the head coach openings around the league. He was very successful with the New Orleans Saints and has spoken highly about some of the jobs around the league. From the second he stepped down as the Saints’ head coach, speculation began that he would find his way to Dallas.
One NFL executive that spoke to NFL Analysis Network believes that could occur this offseason. The executive acknowledged that Jones has been saying all of the right things to the media, but behind the scenes, is handling things much differently.
“Jerry Jones is saying all the right things when it comes to Mike McCarthy, but he isn’t sold on what he’s saying. The Cowboys are going to be in the market to potentially change head coaches unless they win the Super Bowl. With Sean Payton available, a loss before the Super Bowl makes it very likely that Dallas would strongly consider making a change.”
It would certainly be surprising to see a head coach coming off back-to-back 12-win seasons get fired, but we have come to expect the unexpected from Jones. If he believes Payton would be an upgrade for the franchise, he will go and get Payton.
McCarthy has his shortcomings, but what he accomplished this season was truly impressive. If the Cowboys do in fact move on from him, he shouldn’t be a free agent for very long. Plenty of franchises would love to bring on a head coach with a Super Bowl victory on his resume, a .614 career winning percentage in the regular season and a .526 winning percentage in the postseason.
