Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy could be in line for contract extension after 2023 season

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When Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy elected to take the reins of the offense and call plays for the 2023 season, it was met with intrigue around the league from some, skepticism from others.

He allowed Kellen Moore to go to the Chargers to work with Justin Herbert, hired Brian Schottenheimer as Dallas’ new offensive coordinator, and installed the Cowboys’ offense in his own vision. It’s safe to say, everyone wondered how it would go.

The NFL got its answer.

Dallas cruises into today’s showdown with the Bills riding a five-game win streak and boasts the best scoring offense in the NFL by averaging 32.4 points, 381.5 total yards, 262.8 passing yards and 0.9 giveaways per game.

Dak Prescott is on his way to his best statistical season and is trending toward setting new career-highs in completion percentage (69.3) and passer rating (107.5) in 2023. His 28-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio is his best since his rookie season in 2016.

While Dallas still has plenty left in its season, owner Jerry Jones was asked by NFL.com during the December League Meeting in Dallas whether he envisions a contract extension for McCarthy coming as a result of the team’s success. The indication was yes.

“That’ll have a course that seeks its own time frame,” said Jones of his coach who is under contract through 2024. “I don’t do anything of that sort until the season is over.”

McCarthy’s job status is always a topic of conversation in Dallas, but with Jones expected to address it after the season, perhaps that will quiet the speculation. Playoff success will really quiet any speculation. In most other situations, McCarthy would be the subject of coach of the year talk.

Jones was asked this week if he’s surprised by the success McCarthy’s offense has had.

“No. No,” Jones said. “What you’re seeing is the result of a lot of repetition, a lot of practices, not only in training camp, but through the early part of the year and so everybody’s executing better. And then adjustments have been made and the nuances of the offense — everything from blocking to coordination with receivers in Dak’s case.”

One of the ugliest results of the year was dropping a 42-10 loss to the 49ers. As Jones continued to discuss the success the offense has had, he made sure to call back to now being different from then.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all that we’re better in doing things he wanted to do now than when we left training camp,” Jones said, “or when we played San Francisco.”