Why did Cowboys fire Mike McCarthy? Exploring potential reasons behind blockbuster decision

The Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy are going their separate ways. After more than a year of speculation, the Cowboys no longer have a head coach, and McCarthy no longer has a team.

NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported on X on Monday that the two sides couldn't come to an agreement on the length of a contract. McCarthy is now free to pursue other opportunities.

With the split confirmed, the Cowboys coach's exit prompts a question of why Jones let him out the door.

It goes deeper than the length of the contract. Usually, a coach or a player wants a longer tenure than the general manager. It insinuates that the GM didn't trust that he would want the coach that long, which underlines a level of displeasure on how things have gone.

Since McCarthy was hired, Dak Prescott's team won 12 games in all but one year in his four-year contract. The problem likely wasn't the regular season but failing to perform in the playoffs. Under McCarthy's tenure, Dallas failed to advance beyond the divisional round, despite winning a home playoff game in two of his three playoff seasons.

Coupled with the team's struggle in the middle of the season while playoff hopes still flickered, it sealed McCarthy's fate. When McCarthy wanted more than what Jones was willing to give, the relationship was over.

Exploring potential Mike McCarthy replacements

Mike McCarthy at Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys - Source: Imagn

The timing of the conclusion of the Dallas Cowboys relationship between Mike McCarthy and Jerry Jones is far from optimal. Jones has missed out on the opportunity to nab Mike Vrabel and appears to have not started the coaching search.

Meanwhile, teams like the New York Jets, Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints are already neck-deep into their searches. Jones suddenly has a mountain of work to sift through and not much time to do it.

If he's lucky, he can still get an interview with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and former Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Outside of McCarthy, who has jumped to the top of the pecking order, Dallas has to hope for either candidate to bite.

Otherwise, they will be forced to take their chances with former coach options from previous stints with other teams such as New York Jets' Robert Saleh, Brian Flores, Vance Joseph and other similar retreads. Outside of that, they can take a shot at coordinators looking to advance their careers. This would effectively be like taking a rookie prospect in the NFL draft.