Greg Olsen takes victory lap after Cowboys announce they're retaining Mike McCarthy for 2024

Greg Olsen took a victory lap on X Wednesday after Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones announced that Mike McCarthy would return as the team’s head coach in 2024.

Olsen notably said during the Cowboys’ 48-32 NFC Wild Card Round defeat to the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday that teams would be “jumping over themselves” to hire McCarthy if Dallas parted ways with him. We’ll never know if that would’ve been the case as McCarthy is locked into Dallas for at least another year.

“I guess I wasn’t so crazy Sunday huh? Every weekly talking head said he was gone,” Olsen wrote. “Emotional decisions make people feel better. They hardly result in positive outcomes.”

Olsen received pushback for his comments, with Mike Greenberg of ESPN one of the many to disagree with him publicly.

“I really enjoy Greg Olsen on TV but I couldn’t disagree with him more on Mike McCarthy. I do not anticipate teams “jumping over themselves” to hire him if he gets fired,” Greenberg wrote on X.

Cowboys riding with Mike McCarthy for at least one more season

Dallas’ decision to retain McCarthy for another season comes on the heels of another early playoff defeat. The San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cowboys in both 2021 and ’22 before the Packers throttled them inside AT&T Stadium. McCarthy just wrapped up his fourth season with the Cowboys, guiding the team to their third consecutive 12-5 finish. Dallas capped it off with an NFC East title, outlasting the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles.

The 2024 campaign is the final year of McCarthy’s contract. McCarthy’s predecessor, Jason Garrett, was also allowed to coach into the final year of his contract before parting ways with the organization after the 2019 season. Speculation he wouldn’t make it to the 2024 season began immediately after the loss — a loss which Jones admitted came as one of the biggest surprises he’s ever seen in sports.

“I’m floored,” Jones said following the game.

For at least one more year, McCarthy will get a chance to turn around the Cowboys’ playoff misfortunes. The franchise will have several key decisions to make, including whether to sign quarterback Dak Prescott to an extension or not. Linebacker Micah Parsons and receiver CeeDee Lamb are also due substantial raises.