Big shoutout to Joe Hoyt from All City DLLS, who brought up a fascinating point discussing the future of Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who is on a contract year as much as Mike McCarthy having signed a one-year deal in the offseason.

As the Joneses continue to evaluate the future of McCarthy, a task made more difficult with the latest 41-7 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, they also have to make a decision on Zimmer. The Cowboys defense has improved as the season has gone on and there’s a more than decent chance that the front office is interested in running it back with Zimmer regardless of McCarthy’s final fate.

But Hoyt tossed a crucial question into the ring that one had asked before: Does Zimmer himself want to run it back?

“I think one caveat to remember with the Mike Zimmer discussion though, and I think it really came to a head this week, Mike Zimmer was asked by Ed Werder (ESPN), ‘Are you having fun this year?’ and Zimmer joked ‘Oh yeah, I’m having a blast’ (…) In terms of potentially coming back, Zimmer said ‘We’ll see at the end of the year.”

“I don’t think it’s a guarantee that Mike Zimmer is really having a great time being a defensive coordinator in the NFL again,” Hoyt added.

Zimmer will be 69 years old when the 2025 NFL season kicks off. It should be noted that he spent 2021 and 2022 as an analyst/consultant to Deion Sanders at the college football level after parting ways with the Minnesota Vikings. If Zimmer truthfully didn’t enjoy his return to the NFL, he could always move on. There’s no contract stopping him from doing so.

“It’s been hard, I’m not going to lie about that,” Zimmer candidly said last week. “It’s hard, it’s been hard.”

But then again, football coaches usually have a very hard time leaving the gridiron behind. Only time will tell what happens with Zimmer. But one thing is for certain, if the Cowboys end up “pitching” the job to him this offseason, he’ll likely want a better defensive roster to work with.