The details about Mike McCarthy’s salary are interesting.
The Dallas Cowboys still have a head coach, his name is Mike McCarthy, In fact, McCarthy will be the official coach for one more day at least as his initial contract with the Cowboys ends on Tuesday. As Jerry and Stephen Jones are so fond of saying, “deadlines make deals” so if the Cowboys and McCarthy are to agree on another contract, odds are it will happen today or tomorrow.
Cowboys fans might have been reading or hearing all sorts of fantastical stories about how this is a mess, a hostage situation or other such takes. Our friend at ESPN, Todd Archer, offers up a much more sober take on the situation, one that actually has some detail as to what is really happening at the Star.
The ESPN article informs us that the Cowboys and Mike McCarthy have spent some of their time the past week reviewing the 2024 season, what went wrong, and even the idea of roster-building going forward. This was something that could only take place once the 2024 season was over, and probably helped inform Jerry Jones as to McCarthy’s position on things going forward and influencing his decision as to whether McCarthy would be a candidate for head coach in 2025.
Archer specifically mentions that things are probably to the point of money and years on the contract more than anything else. One reason why this could be taking a while is that Jones may be pushing the idea of coaching incentives, something not regularly part of NFL coaching contracts.
After the season-ending loss to the Washington Commanders, Jones mentioned an “incentive plan” when it comes to coaches.
“For instance, I might say, ‘Look, I’m going to pay you this much, but then [I won’t pay you] any more. And I know you want twice that, but if you get to the playoffs or you win a Super Bowl, I’ll give you five times that,’” Jones said.
Archer also mentions that Jones has spoken negatively about the size of the coaching staff. This would lead one to believe that he is actively negotiating these points and that McCarthy is willingly taking part.
Also noted in the article is the one piece of information that should inform the rest of us about McCarthy’s role in all this. No other team, save the Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel, which seemed like a given the moment they fired Jerod Mayo, has hired a new head coach. McCarthy will have time to interview for these positions that are available as soon as Wednesday. It’s likely that McCarthy has signaled to the others that are interested that he may be available if he and Jones can’t reach common ground on a new contract in the next day or two.
There has been plenty of speculation about all of this, but if you follow the timeline of what is happening and you see that McCarthy has leverage here and might be using it, the whole process becomes less dramatic and more business-like.
All signs point to the deadline making the deal, as it always does with the Jones family. This is really no different.
