Black Monday has arrived, and we’re still no closer to finding out just what the heck the Dallas Cowboys plan to do with head coach Mike McCarthy. McCarthy’s contract officially expires on Jan. 14, meaning that Jerry Jones has just over a week to either sign him to a new deal or pivot elsewhere.

While most assumed that the writing was on the wall for McCarthy after the Cowboys watched the bottom fall out of their 2024 season, Jones doesn’t seem so sure — he’s heaped praise on his head coach at multiple points throughout the year, and reports Monday suggested that he’s not in any rush to reach a final decision. At this point, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he decides that McCarthy is the man he wants leading the Cowboys into 2025 and beyond.

Which most Cowboys fans would consider a disaster, and rightly so. McCarthy’s game management has long been a running joke, and his offense is years past its sell-by date at this point. We’ve seen enough over the last few years to feel pretty certain that McCarthy isn’t the guy to finally get Dallas over the Divisional Round hump and back into the Super Bowl, especially as the team’s looming cap crunch brings change to the roster.

But just when the worst-case scenario seemed inevitable, a hero emerged.

It turns out that, for whatever reason, McCarthy’s name still carries some weight around the league. Reports began to surface in the lead-up to Week 18 that the former Super Bowl champion could garner interest from other teams looking for a new head coach, and sure enough, one of them has done just that: According to Adam Schefter, the Chicago Bears have sought permission to interview McCarthy.

As long as McCarthy is still under contract with the Cowboys, Dallas reserves the right to deny another team’s request for an interview. And it’s unclear just how interested Chicago is; McCarthy is just one of several interview requests the Bears have sent out on Monday, ranging from Ravens OC Todd Monken to Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. But if the Bears really do think that McCarthy is their guy — maybe all those wins in Green Bay are still living rent-free — it’s possible that both sides might decide a change of scenery is for the best.

While McCarthy has had nothing but positive things to say about his time in Dallas, the drama of the last few years has obviously taken its toll on him. Chicago isn’t exactly a forgiving market, but it does come with a fresh start and a young QB in Caleb Williams to work with. Why exactly the Bears would want to entrust that QB’s development to McCarthy in the year of our lord 2024 is another question, but Cowboys fans can only hope that Chicago saves Jones from his worst impulses.