The Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy are reportedly “in constant communication” regarding the head coach’s contract, which is set to expire next week.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday that McCarthy and the Cowboys have continued to meet since the conclusion of the season:
They are in constant communication, all the way back from yesterday, the day before, lengthy meetings… They’re really trying to figure out where the organization goes from here and how they would move forward. If you’re not going to bring back Mike McCarthy, you wouldn’t have those meetings… It’s really just a matter of if they can agree on the number of years, can they agree on the money and can they agree just on moving forward together and what it would look like.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler provided additional details on Thursday:
Cowboys coach McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones spent significant time Tuesday and Wednesday discussing the future — whether it’s a new contract in Dallas or McCarthy potentially coaching elsewhere in 2025. People I’ve talked to in Dallas believe McCarthy is more likely to stay in Dallas than leave, but both sides need to be sure, and they have less than a week to figure it out. McCarthy has leverage and options. And as several coaches have told me this week, why wouldn’t teams want to speak to a Super Bowl winner in what’s considered a weaker candidate pool?
McCarthy, who has been the Cowboys head coach since 2020, has led Dallas to the playoffs three times, but his future with the organization has been in question following a 7-10 season.
Amid uncertainty in Dallas, the Chicago Bears requested to interview McCarthy for their vacant head coaching position earlier this week, but the Cowboys denied that request. The denial seems to indicate that Dallas wants to at least spend the exclusive negotiating window discussing what’s next for the team regarding its head coach.
As Rapoport mentioned, the Cowboys’ talks with McCarthy have been less about contract details and more about his vision for the team. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Wednesday that the two sides are still far apart on a deal.
“It doesn’t sound like he’s any closer to a deal with the Dallas Cowboys currently, but we’ve seen the Dallas Cowboys always wait until the last minute on these types of deals,” Schefter said on NFL Live (h/t On3’s Nick Schultz). “Go back to the start of the regular season, Dak Prescott signs on the day the regular season kicks off. CeeDee Lamb [signed] late in the summer.”
Schefter went on to say that the Cowboys could let things get to an “artificial deadline,” which in this case would be the end of the exclusive negotiating window on Jan. 14.
If that deadline passes and McCarthy still doesn’t have an extension, he’ll likely begin to explore other options elsewhere.