Jerry Jones has options but defends Mike McCarthy’s job

When Jones was asked by reporters at the beginning of training camp about extending McCarthy’s contract, he sidestepped the topic. But, on the other hand, he said there are still years left on the coach’s contract beyond the 2022 campaign.

“I want to be real clear. He wouldn’t be sitting here today if I didn’t think he could lead this team to a Super Bowl. And I have choices.”

After leading the Cowboys to a record of 6-10 in his first season, much of which was spent without Dak Prescott, McCarthy guided the team to the NFC East championship with the highest-rated offense in the NFL. They were knocked from the playoffs, though, by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round.

The Cowboys and Jerry Jones have choices

Jones began his yearly training camp press conference by dismissing rumors regarding the future of his head coach. It is widely believed that one of Dallas’ “options” is Sean Payton, the former Cowboys assistant and longtime target of Jerry Jones, who just retired as head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

Payton left the door open for a return to the NFL, fuelling rumors that he could finally settle in Dallas despite McCarthy’s two-year stint.

McCarthy dismissed the hubbub about his job security on Monday, describing it as “a media-driven narrative or, or at least, a narrative driven outside my realm.”

Dallas needs some hope

Since winning Super Bowl XXX in 1996, Dallas has not been able to go to the National Football Conference Championship Game. Jones’s patience may be wearing thin as a result of the fact that his team has won just two postseason games in the last 12 years