Mike McCarthy could take Cowboys' decision out of their hands by taking another NFL job when his contract expires
The closer we get to the end of the 2024 Dallas Cowboys season, the more mysterious Mike McCarthy's future looks. For most of the season, it appeared the writing was on the wall for the head coach, whose seat was already warm after three rough playoff exits, including a beatdown against the seven-seed Green Bay […]
The closer we get to the end of the 2024 Dallas Cowboys season, the more mysterious Mike McCarthy's future looks.
For most of the season, it appeared the writing was on the wall for the head coach, whose seat was already warm after three rough playoff exits, including a beatdown against the seven-seed Green Bay Packers back in January.
As of late, however, Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons have come out to back McCarthy and stating their desires for him to come back. Meanwhile, Jerry and Stephen Jones have praised their head coach. Troy Aikman has said on live radio he expects him back in 2025. Suddenly, him coming back is sounding like a possibility.
And yet, it's still hard to bet on his return. Chances are the Cowboys will allow themselves to postpone their decision until the season is over so they can make a decision with cool heads.
But this week, one thought popped into my head: It's not just the Cowboys' decision. After all, McCarthy is in a contract year. He controls his destiny just as much as Dallas does. He can't be forced to stick around. And with the way things operate at Jerry World, if he sees an alternative for his coaching career, it seems possible he'd take it.
Now granted, these days, it should be questioned if McCarthy would get any head coaching offers in the first place. But as I spun this idea around in my head, one team kept making sense to me.
The Chicago Bears. Hear me out, I'm not trying to pitch McCarthy to you nor to the Bears. Many would immediately tie the Bears with a young offensive guru such as Ben Johnson from the Detroit Lions because they have Caleb Williams on their roster. But is that really the way Chicago thinks?
When they hired Ryan Poles as GM, it was already evident they were well on their way to a total rebuild in which getting a new quarterback was going to be inevitable. They still bet on Matt Eberflus, a defensive-minded coach who brought in Luke Getsy as offensive coordinator.
Let's dive in a little deeper.
Would Mike McCarthy to the Bears make sense?
McCarthy knows the division, and although many would scoff at the notion of the Bears betting on him, there are many reasons to believe it'd make sense. First and foremost is Caleb Williams' development.
If there's one thing the former Super Bowl winning coach is known for is his ability to develop quarterbacks. Dak Prescott played the best season of his career with him, he fine-tuned Aaron Rodgers' mechanics when he arrived at the league, and even got to work with Joe Montana when the latter headed to Kansas City, an experience that taught him a lot about the quarterback position.
"Rodgers has clearly benefited from McCarthy's training," wrote Chris Brown on his 2015 book, The Art of Smart Football. "As good of a prospect as Rodgers was coming out of Cal, it's striking how different he looks now: he's more athletic, more natural, and has a stronger arm."
Football has changed, of course, and McCarthy has often been accused of running an offense that's gone stale. Perhaps that is true, but it's certainly not crazy to believe the Bears could convince themselves that he can still run a successful offense one year removed from Prescott's 2023 season, which ended with him as runner-up for MVP.
Additionally, it's important to keep in mind the Bears' latest coaching hire was Eberflus, who was seemingly in the outs before getting the gig to lead Chicago.
“Multiple league sources have told the Tribune that, had the Bears not hired Eberflus, the Colts were set to fire him," Dan Wiederer wrote for The Chicago Tribune earlier this week.
It also should be noted that McCarthy did win 12 games in three consecutive years in Dallas between the 2021 and 2023 seasons. If what the Bears are looking for is to become a relevant team in the NFL, betting for a "safer" option such as McCarthy isn't that bad of an idea.
What about McCarthy, would he be interested in the job?
What makes this possibility even more intriguing is the fact that it's no secret McCarthy loves the Midwest. Chicago is only a three-hour drive away from Wisconsin, which holds a special place in the Cowboys head coach's heart.
"Wisconsin people, a lot like Texans, just, I mean their love for family, friends, the outdoors, all that," McCarthy said in 2022 days before the Cowboys played at Lambeau Field. "I mean, it’s a special place. And it always will be.”
Being closer to home, even if it's not his hometown Pittsburgh, could be an enticing opportunity for McCarthy, who has talked in the past about how important family time has been for him since parting ways with the Packers. And if he's done with the Jerry Jones experience, any offer should draw his attention.
If there's a contract extension offer on the table for McCarthy, the one thing that I could see persuading him to stay is the relationship he has with players, particularly with Prescott, and the locker room he's built in Dallas. Cowboys have seriously put up a fight for him even in a tough season like this one. CeeDee Lamb has played through a painful shoulder injury and Parsons' emotional outburst following the Bengals loss shows how bought in the players were to making a longshot playoff push.
Only time will tell what happens with the Cowboys head coach but don't be surprised if McCarthy ends up taking the decision about his future out of the front office's hands once his contract expires.
