The Dallas Cowboys are in a bit of a pickle with regards to their head coach. Mike McCarthy is staring at possibly emptying his apartment as his contract with the franchise comes winding down. At the same time, Jerry Jones is in two minds, whether to extend him or not.

In the midst of this, the Chicago Bears came calling and wanted permission from Jones to interview McCarthy for their vacant HC position. The news was not a surprise considering the Super Bowl winning coach himself is about to be a free agent.

To his credit, he managed to get the Dallas Cowboys to a 7-10 record, despite not having starting QB Dak Prescott for much of the season. Maybe the Bears wanted that ability to galvanize a squad in their next HC and Mike McCarthy fits the bill.

On the other hand, those late season performances also saw Jerry Jones publicly backing McCarthy. With those mixed signals coming from all angles, ESPN’s Adam Schefter gave an update that could signal how Mike McCarthy‘s 2025 season could go.

This could be the strongest hint yet that McCarthy is likely to stay on as head coach for the 2025 season. Many analysts and fans may not like the idea as they have seen enough proof for the Cowboys to go in a different direction. However, recent developments may have played Jones’ hand.

Since the end of the 2024-25 NFL season, the league has seen six head coaches lose their jobs. That means, there are six vacant positions needing personnel to fill them. That also means a lot of current coordinators will get calls for interviews.

The sheer lack of top tier coordinators has seen former coaches who have not been in a job for a while, getting calls for interviews as teams look at all available options. This situation could have played a hand in forcing Jerry Jones to deny the Bears permission to interview McCarthy.

It seems, the current state of the NFL could force Jones to offer his HC at least a one-year extension. The logic being he might not have a potential replacement ready. There are a host of teams with similar openings and other positions might be more lucrative than the Dallas Cowboys.

To add to the confusion, McCarthy has only days left on his current contract. Now in hindsight, it seems Mike McCarthy did himself a favor by hiring a top agent. He might be able to negotiate a longer deal for himself as the NFL’s coaching carousel ends up benefitting him.