Tim Heitman-Imagn Images A Prime candidate has emerged in the Cowboys search for the next head coach. The Dallas Cowboys’ search for a new head coach is about to dominate the NFL news cycle for a while, and we already have our first big name with a substantial rumor for the job. Former Cowboys player, NFL legend, and current college coach Deion Sanders has been contacted by Dallas about their vacancy. Not even a full day since the news that Mike McCarthy would not be returning, Sanders is the first candidate reported to be having an actual discussion with Jerry Jones about the job. While everyone under the sun has been speculated about, Coach Prime was one of the stronger considerations given his links to the team and a profile worthy of the NFL’s flashiest franchise. Sources: Jerry Jones and Deion Sanders have spoken, and while a formal interview hasn’t been scheduled yet, there is mutual interest. My understanding is that the two are going to stay in contact on this. https://t.co/D9z3OYruuC — Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 14, 2025 If Sanders is the hire, it will be the first time that Jones has gone to the college coaching well since he replaced Jimmy Johnson with Barry Switzer in 1994. While having never served on an NFL coaching staff, Sanders played in the league from 1989-2005 and is generally considered one of the best talents at any position in league history. There will be plenty more to come on Deion Sanders’ candidacy and others’ in the days ahead. But for now, we have our first real name to chew on.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images It appears that the Mike McCarthy divorce was a difference in opinion at the highest levels. The Dallas Cowboys have begun looking for a new head coach after not agreeing to a new contract with Mike McCarthy. Both camps appeared motivated to reach a deal as of last week, but neither budged on their opinion of what McCarthy’s accomplished in Dallas and what he deserved going forward. And in this case, neither side may be wrong. The latest reports say that after a long review of the Cowboys’ performance last season and the state of the franchise after five years of McCarthy’s coaching, there was a mutual agreement for them to go separate ways. The news is still pretty fresh at the time of this being written, so more substance and perhaps comments from Jerry Jones or McCarthy may come in the near future. But with the team and coach now moving on to trying to figure out what’s next, we may not hear much more about their parting. So let’s look at it from a few angles. First, why would the Cowboys not want to re-up with McCarthy? While his first and last years were rough, he also had a stretch of three straight 12-5 years and two division crowns from 2021-2023. It’s arguably the best three-season run the team’s had since the 90s. But that run also meant three consecutive times that Jones watched his team lose in playoff games, two of which came at home. McCarthy’s record overall against winning teams was weak, essentially showing that he could bully bad teams with the talent that the front office had provided, but was rarely perceived to have coached them above the sum of their parts. Then again, especially last year, the roster was left weakened at times by the team’s increasingly quiet offseasons. Why would McCarthy want to come back after not only being left in lame-duck status for 2024, but not even given a fair shot by the front office’s lack of free agent activity and a future-minded draft class? One might have thought this parting was already decided before last week, or even as last season began. But instead of jumping onto the Black Monday fray last week with all the other teams needing new head coaches, Dallas spent last week and the early part of this one in talks with McCarthy. There seemed to be a mutual desire to keep doing business together, but clearly everyone had their own ideas about what that relationship should look like going forward. We can only speculate. Did Jones want McCarthy to give up offensive control and focus on being the head coach, as he did with Jason Garrett in 2013? Perhaps McCarthy balked at the idea of offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer being replaced. Or maybe McCarthy wanted more say in front office activity and was looking for more of a commitment. While reports say that the two sides never talked about his contract, a general idea of how long a new deal would be may have still trickled into conversations. If the Cowboys only wanted to give McCarthy a couple more years and he wanted more security, that would’ve naturally come up in discussions about their visions for the team going forward. Again, we probably won’t know what the true sticking points were. But it’s no bold guess that McCarthy saw more value in his regular-season accomplishments than the front office did. When it came to his true mandate upon joining the Cowboys, to take the team further than Jason Garrett had, McCarthy had nothing to show. How you feel about this change is no different than the parties involved; where do you assign value? If you found those three straight playoff appearances to be a badge of honor, you may be disappointed in McCarthy’s departure. If you saw them as more arbitrary, and especially given how Dallas performed in those playoff exits, you’re probably ready for change. Nobody’s wrong here. Mike McCarthy’s not wrong to think he deserves another chance in Dallas. The Cowboys aren’t wrong for thinking they can do better at head coach. You’re not wrong for how you feel about it. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but the facts are that the Cowboys will have a new head coach in 2025 and this offseason is about to get a lot more interesting.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images The Dallas Cowboys’ delay on their McCarthy decision has significantly hampered their ability to interview certain candidates. The Dallas Cowboys parted ways with Mike McCarthy on Monday morning. That this was the second Monday of the offseason made matters more interesting given that a week before would have made more sense. Dallas spent the first week of the offseason thinking and believing they would-resign McCarthy. In that time, the Chicago Bears formally requested to interview him and the Cowboys denied that which only reinforced the notion of a McCarthy return. Maybe the Cowboys had every intention of bringing McCarthy back and things did in fact just fall apart in the end. Every report from an insider has insisted that this was about the length of a potential contract, something that will seemingly be an issue for any head coach who comes in. But that last point is the most important as that is what matters most now. The Cowboys are officially looking for the 10th coach that the franchise has ever known and the way they went about this McCarthy situation seriously handicapped their ability to find him. The Cowboys made finding a new head coach harder on themselves As noted, we are now into the second week of the offseason which means that the first round of playoff games are in the books except for the Monday night game. This is significant for the Cowboys now because it means that the staffers on the teams with the first-round byes, the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs, are no longer able to be virtually interviewed for potential head coaching opportunities. Last week Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn, Matt Nagy and Steve Spagnuolo had virtual interviews with the teams who were looking for new head coaches and that window of opportunity is closed. It took some digging to find the full-on clarity on what comes next, shout out to the one and only Dave Halprin, but NFL rules state that now the Lions and Chiefs staffers cannot be interviewed until at least January 27th (after the conference championship games) and that that window closes February 2nd in order for them to (if they are in it) prepare for the Super Bowl. Obviously if a team is eliminated before then their staffers are fair game. But there is a catch. Lions or Chiefs staffers may interview again in that window with teams who they conducted virtual interviews within the window that just closed. Given that the Cowboys did not interview any of them during the time in question because they were figuring things out with Mike McCarthy, they have to wait until after the Super Bowl to talk to any Lions or Chiefs staffers, if either team makes it there. ESPN’s Adam Schefter went on a bit of a rant about this on SportsCenter on Monday afternoon. He noted that this challenge, among others, was completely self-induced by the Cowboys: “Take a look at the timing of what Dallas did here. Because now there is a window to be able to talk to Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo…” “If you wanted to talk to any of those four coaches the time to do it was last week. Now, the Cowboys cannot even speak to them, until after their season ends. If either one of those teams were to advance to the Super Bowl, the soonest the Cowboys could talk to any of them would be February 10th.” “So essentially they limit themselves there, Mike Vrabel gets the job in New England, Bill Belichick’s in North Carolina… so there are any number of coaching candidates that by the timing of the Dallas decision, the Cowboys could not consider or could not speak with.” “…the Dallas Cowboys, with their timing, essentially put themselves at something of a disadvantage and now they’re playing catch-up with the rest of the teams that have openings.” Among the notes about Detroit and Kansas City that Schefter offered he also touched on Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick. The former is now the head coach of the New England Patriots. Consider that the Patriots fired Jerod Mayo, conducted their own coaching search (that is a bit of a loose thing to describe what they did, but they did literally perform one) and settled on Mike Vrabel and hired him. His introductory press conference began just after news of Dallas and McCarthy parting ways was announced. Schefter also mentioned Bill Belichick who a while ago now became the head coach at the University of North Carolina. For what it is worth, Jordan Schultz reported that Belichick would have been interested in the Cowboys job and that it is believed Dallas would have been interested in him. Clearly that is not happening, unless Dallas were to buy out his current deal and he were to pull an all-time about face. It is obviously unlikely. FWIW: Bill Belichick would have been interested in the Cowboys’ job, and it’s believed that Dallas would have been interested in him, had he known the position would become available. Belichick and his camp never received any indication during backchannel conversations that the… pic.twitter.com/xIqaGdwFPq — Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 13, 2025 Belichick, as you are aware, was available at this time last year when that cycle of head coach searching was going on across the NFL. That was also when Dan Quinn was hired by the Washington Commanders and Jim Harbaugh was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers. This isn’t to say that either was some mistake that Dallas made by not securing one of them, but more of a representation at how the franchise dragging their feet over the last week and last year in general has set up their next era on a wrong foot start already. It is difficult to understand what the Cowboys are thinking or how they could have some sort of plan. But if

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports We are tracking everything you need to know about the Dallas Cowboys coaching search. It happened. The Dallas Cowboys officially decided to move on from Mike McCarthy following his five seasons with the team, it was reported as a situation where a deal could not be reached, and whether or not you think that was the right move, the move has been made. With the McCarthy domino having fallen the Cowboys are now going to be tasked with finding a new head coach, the 10th one in franchise history and the 9th to work for the team in the ownership era of Jerry Jones. Obviously only Tom Landry did not. What’s more is that the Cowboys are looking for their third head coach in the Dak Prescott era as he has played for both McCarthy and Jason Garrett. Starting over a second time (as Garrett was the head coach when Prescott was drafted) is a tall task for any era and one that this group is going to have to get used to. Additionally, the Cowboys waited over a week after the season ended to move on from McCarthy so they are now significantly behind the other teams looking for head coaches. Consider that the New England Patriots already even found their new one in Mike Vrabel. This post will serve as our tracker for all relevant rumors, reports and pieces of information as they relate to the Cowboys and their head coaching search. We will also keep tabs on Mike McCarthy and what comes of him. Last Updated: Monday, January 13th at 1:00pm ET Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Rumors Tracker In the immediate aftermath of the McCarthy news, Ian Rapoport noted on NFL Network that the Cowboys have missed out on the early windows to talk to Lions or Chiefs staffers and will now have to wait if they wish to do so. He added that Kellen Moore is an obvious dot to connect. More important than anything he mentioned that he expects a larger coaching search than the one that yielded McCarthy five years ago. Official Interviews Reported For Dallas Cowboys Head coach TBD Mike McCarthy Rumors Tracker Shortly after news of the departure was announced it was reported that McCarthy is (obviously) now free to speak with other teams. NFL Network implied that conversations with Chicago and New Orleans could happen soon.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images 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.

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Notable headlines surrounding America’s team. Cowboys named potential ‘great fit’ for standout DL in NFL free agency- Josh Sanchez, Sports Illustrated Dallas fans have certainly heard this before. Pro Football Focus released a list of “one free agent every NFL team should pursue” and the Cowboys were linked to Los Angeles Chargers defensive tackle Poona Ford, a former Texas Longhorns star. “Ford isn’t one of the most touted free agents, but he had a terrific resurgence with the Chargers. His 85.1 PFF overall grade in 2024 ranked fifth among qualified defensive linemen, while his 78.8 PFF run-defense grade placed sixth,” the report read. “Even if Dallas can keep Odighizuwa, adding the 29-year-old Ford would make for a great tandem on the inside.” Ford was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 draft. The former Longhorn spent five seasons with the Seahawks, where he recorded three sacks and 35 total tackles in his final season. He went on to spend one season with the Buffalo Bills, before signing a one-year deal with the Chargers in the 2024 offseason. When does 2025 NFL free agency start?- Luke Norris, The Landry Hat It’s time to look ahead. February 18 – March 4: Franchise tag window is open Beginning on Tuesday, February 18, and running through Tuesday, March 4, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, teams may designate franchise or transition players for the 2025 season. Any player set to become an unrestricted free agent is eligible for this designation, and one of three tags can be used. Exclusive tag: Under the exclusive tag, designated players cannot negotiate with other teams. Clubs must offer the average of the top five salaries at the designated player’s position during the current year or 120% of that player’s previous salary, whichever is higher. Non-exclusive franchise tag: Under the non-exclusive tag, players can negotiate with other teams, but a team reserves the right to match any offer sheet. If the club decides not to match an offer, the team providing the new contract must also provide two first-round picks in return for signing the player. Transition tag: Transition tags are similar to non-exclusive tags with a couple of exceptions. First, the salary is determined by the average of the 10 highest-paid players at a position instead of five. Second, if a player receives an offer and their team doesn’t match it, then they will not receive compensatory picks. The transition tag isn’t used nearly as often as the franchise tag. College superstar Ashton Jeanty would “love” to play for Cowboys- Mark Heaney, Inside The Star Jeanty would certainly add a spark to this team. For Ashton Jeanty’s ideal scenario to come true, the front office has to share his vision. With the 12th pick in the draft, and needs all around the roster, they may see drafting a running back as a risk. Dallas last drafted a running back in the first round in 2016, as Ezekiel Elliott came in and dominated the ground game. In hindsight, however, the Cowboys would have been much better off selecting Jalen Ramsey in the first round, and Derrick Henry in the second. In a deeply talented running back class, Dallas could look to avoid that same mistake. On the flip side, the Cowboys just need playmakers, and Jeanty is that and more. When you remove CeeDee Lamb from the equation, Dallas’ weapons simply lack explosiveness. Whether it’s Jalen Tolbert, Brandin Cooks, or the whole running back room, there isn’t a big hitter that can take the weight of the offense off Lamb’s shoulders. Jeanty, with his 2,601 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, would certainly change that. If the Cowboys think Jeanty’s talent elevates his value beyond the average first-round running back, they may just pull the trigger and make his dream scenario a reality. List of all Cowboys 2025 draft slots, including projected comp picks- K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire Draft season has started for the Cowboys. Smith, Armstrong and Biadasz should bring the Cowboys three extra fifth-round picks, while Pollard should bring a sixth. Fowler was at a seventh-round level, but the NFL limits teams to four comp picks a season. Comp picks are officially awarded around the start of the new league year in March. Here’s a look at the Cowboys’ full haul. 1st Round (12) – 12th 2nd Round (12) – 44th 3rd Round (12) – 76th * 4th Round (12) – ~113th – Traded to Carolina Panthers for WR Jonathan Mingo 5th Round (11) – ~148th 5th Round Comp- ~168th 5th Round Comp- ~170th 5th Round Comp- 171st 6th Round (18) – ~186th 6th Round Comp – ~209th 7th Round (10) – 226th The reason the Cowboys are making a massive mistake retaining Mike McCarthy- Connor Livesay, Blogging The Boys Should Dallas consider looking elsewhere? In the last four years, the McCarthy led Cowboys finished with a 15-17 record against playoff teams and a point differential of -45. The only two years they finished with a positive point differential in McCarthy’s tenure at head coach was with Kellen Moore as the primary play-caller and offensive coordinator. Since Moore’s departure, the Cowboys offense has struggled to keep pace with contending teams and win games against the top dogs in the NFC and AFC. AD Which leads to the biggest issue. McCarthy was brought in to get this team over the hump, and despite having the opportunity to do so, he’s failed. While this study was just done on regular-season games, when we take a deeper dive into the playoffs, it paints an even bleaker picture. In the Cowboys 2023 playoff game against the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys were dealt a 48-32 loss, at home, against a team most thought was the underdog coming into AT&T Stadium. In 2022, the Cowboys seemed to have turned the corner, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road in the Wild Card round, before losing on the road to the San Francisco