Report: Mike McCarthy will not receive contract extension, will coach 2024 on final year of deal

The Dallas Cowboys recently decided to retain head coach Mike McCarthy following the 20-2023-24 season; however, Adam Schefter reports that he will not receive an extension and will coach on a one-year deal next season.

Here was that report, which Schefter posted to ESPN on Saturday afternoon:

“Mike McCarthy is not expected to receive any sort of extension from the Dallas Cowboys and will coach the 2024 season on an expiring contract, league sources told ESPN.”

He added that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes the lack of future security could light a fire under McCarthy.

“Jones believes that a person in the last year of a contract is challenged in a different way, and it often can bring out the best in people — which he is banking on the happening in 2024 with McCarthy,” reports Schefter.

McCarthy will enter his fifth season with Dallas next fall after finishing 12-5 in each of the last three regular seasons before bowing out of the playoffs in disappointing fashion year after year. In 2024-25, he’ll get one more chance to make a dent in the postseason and impress Jones enough to earn a longer-term deal.

Jerry Jones’ statement on McCarthy after decision to bring him back

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones released the following statement upon the announcement that Mike McCarthy would return as head coach:

“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach. There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach. Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively.

“Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our post season goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated post season success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.

“Further, our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches [and] front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.

“We will start our process of review and decision making regarding everything that impacts our team and roster and, while we’re not going to address specific players and extensions or free agents at this point, it deserves our deepest review and consideration, and it will get it.”