Stephen Jones speaks on timeline for deciding Mike McCarthy's fate, Cowboys head coach job

The Dallas Cowboys will host its regular season finale on Sunday, facing off against the Washington Commanders. Nothing is on the line for Dallas except where they will pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Right now, the franchise’s biggest story is what the future of head coach Mike McCarthy entails.

Nobody is quite sure which direction the Jones family will go, having a massive decision to make. Exactly when McCarthy will know his fate appears to be unknown as well. Stephen Jones spoke on a potential timeline once the season ends, saying the Cowboys are not quite there yet.

“We’ve been so focused on this season that we haven’t really even thought about it in terms of timing,” Jones said. “Obviously Mike McCarthy and his staff have done a hell of a job for us. We’ll really sit down and go over that, but in terms of starting to set up time schedules and those types of things in terms of when we’ll make decisions, we haven’t gotten to that point.”

Everybody inside the Cowboys building has been focused on finishing the season. Even when making the playoffs was mathematically impossible, the goal has been winning. That proved to be true in Week 16 when Dallas took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football.

McCarthy has been as numerous times about his job security and for the most part, every answer has been the same. His latest answer entering the Washington matchup keeping focus on the Commanders.

“I need to make sure I’m doing exactly what I’m asking everybody else to do, we need to finish the race,” McCarthy said. “We’ll have time to talk about that next week.”

A loss to Philadelphia ensured Dallas will finish with a losing record for just the second time in McCarthy’s five seasons. Both were hampered by injuries, specifically to quarterback Dak Prescott. Although the Cowboys have found a way to win in 2024 despite Prescott’s long-term absence, unlike in 2020.

The previous three resulted in 12 wins but not much success in the playoffs. This go-round will not even give the Cowboys an opportunity to compete for the much-desired Super Bowl. Not the results anybody wanted and the Jones family will have to decide if McCarthy will get another chance.