Jerry Jones created this situation. He’s the owner and general manager who decided to play the 2024 season with a lame-duck leadership structure. Bringing Mike McCarthy and his entire coaching staff back to play out the last year of their deals in 2024, he created a win-now environment that no longer served the best interests of the team long-term.
The Cowboys enter Week 9 standing at 3-4. They are in third place in the NFC East, 13th place in the NFC and, at 12 percent, statistical longshots to make the postseason. Winning a Super Bowl in 2024 is no longer the only goal for the team. Building for a better tomorrow has to also sit at the forefront of objectives list this season.
The only problem is the Cowboys coaching staff doesn’t care about tomorrow.
McCarthy and company are solely focused on the here and now. They’re only under contract for roughly the next 11 weeks. Beyond that is Jones’ problem. Funny thing about expiring deals is it can be as much a demotivator as much as a motivator. Playing only for 2024 means the coaching staff isn’t interested about anything beyond the season. They don’t inherently care about developing or experimenting if it means bumps along the way.
The idea of testing out players like Asim Richards or Juanyeh Thomas and right tackle and safety (respectively) doesn’t necessarily appeal to them even if both players could be long-term solutions in 2025 and beyond.
If given the opportunity to start they may prove they’re up to the job by season’s end. Such a test would position the Cowboys better for the offseason because, at the very least, they’d know what they had in the two players and could adjust their offseason task list accordingly. But since the Cowboys’ coaching staff is only playing for 2024, they aren’t interested in experiments with the unknown. They don’t want to endure growing pains for a better tomorrow. Their goals are no longer completely aligned with the franchise.
It’s a situation Jones created when he embarked on the season. It wouldn’t have come up if the Cowboys had been on pace for another 12-win campaign like they’ve had the last three seasons prior, but alas they are not. They are on track for a 6-11 season and a top 10 draft pick next April.
This isn’t to say McCarthy doesn’t have the best interests of the club in mind. It’s just he’s unmotivated to do so given the contract situation. This also isn’t to suggest McCarthy should have been extended last winter. It’s just to point out the problems with using a coaching staff on expiring contracts.
With goals no longer aligned, the Cowboys front office will either need to take a more active role in game day management or suffer the consequences of a coaching staff completely uninterested in the long-term health of the team. It’s an ugly situation but they all brought this on themselves.
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