Mike McCarthy spent five years with the Dallas Cowboys. Now, the long-time NFL head coach will be looking for a new challenge.
McCarthy and the Cowboys could not agree to terms on a new contract for the head coach before the expiration of his deal on Jan. 14, 2025. As a result, the two are separating, and McCarthy will be free to seek out a new job.
McCarthy is expected to draw interest from the remaining five NFL teams with coaching vacancies. The 61-year-old posted a 49-35 record over his five seasons with the Cowboys and led Dallas to the playoffs in three of those campaigns, all of which saw the team post a 12-5 record.
Where might McCarthy end up? Here’s a look at some of his most realistic landing spots for the 2025 NFL offseason.
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New Orleans Saints
The Saints are expected to be ‘very interested’ in McCarthy now that he’s available, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.
McCarthy got his first offensive coordinator job with the Saints all the way back in 2000. He spent five seasons with the team and routinely led them to solid offensive performances, with the team’s third-ranked scoring offense in 2002 being his best unit.
Much has changed for McCarthy since then, but his history with the Saints is key. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports ‘familiarity will be a factor’ in New Orleans’ coaching search, so McCarthy’s ties to the team could make him among the top Saints coaching candidates alongside Aaron Glenn and Joe Brady.
The only question is whether McCarthy would be interested in coaching the Saints, who have serious salary cap issues and will likely need to rebuild to become a wild-card contender again.
Chicago Bears
If McCarthy is worried about the talent level on New Orleans’ roster, he may have more of an interest in the Bears. Chicago already requested to interview McCarthy while he was still under contract with the Cowboys. The Bears were denied permission to do so, but now they can pursue McCarthy as he becomes a free agent.
The Bears are coming off a tough season – which saw the team collapse after allowing the Washington Commanders to beat them with a Week 8 Hail Mary – but they have plenty of offensive weapons in Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift, D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet. McCarthy could see a path to wild-card contention with that group, especially if he can help develop Williams after the 2024 NFL draft’s No. 1 pick struggled as a rookie.
McCarthy helped Dak Prescott enjoy some of his best years in Dallas, including the 2023 season, when he finished as the runner-up for the NFL’s MVP award. His history of getting strong quarterback play out of talented prospects like Prescott and Aaron Rodgers will likely intrigue the Bears and make him a legitimate candidate for the job.
McCarthy’s case for the job will also be bolstered by his 19-7 career record against the Bears.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Since taking over the Jaguars in 2012, owner Shad Khan has tended to alternate hiring coaches with previous NFL head coaching experience (like Doug Marrone and Pederson) and inexperienced, swing-for-the-fences moves (like Gus Bradley and Urban Meyer). That may put Jacksonville on track to take a chance on an up-and-coming coordinator candidate this cycle, like Joe Brady, rather than a retread like McCarthy.
Still, McCarthy could draw interest from the Jaguars as a proven winner. Jacksonville is looking for a candidate who can get the most out of 2021 No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence, and McCarthy’s track record could make Khan a believer.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders could use some coaching stability, as the position has been in flux since Jon Gruden resigned from his post during the 2021 NFL season after emails containing racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks that he sent while working for ESPN were leaked to the media.
McCarthy would provide that. He would shut the revolving door that has featured interim coach Rich Bisaccia, Josh McDaniels and interim-turned-head coach Antonio Pierce over the four seasons. McCarthy could also get Las Vegas’ offense back on track after it finished bottom-six in both yards and points for the season.
That said, the Raiders don’t have a proven starter at quarterback and don’t have a clear path to one of the top signal-caller options in a relatively weak 2025 NFL draft class. That could discourage McCarthy from taking the job, so again, this doesn’t look as likely a landing spot for the veteran coach.
Is Mike McCarthy a New York Jets coaching candidate?
As intriguing as the idea of McCarthy potentially teaming up with Aaron Rodgers again would be, Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic reports he doesn’t expect the Jets to pursue McCarthy.
It’s easy to understand why that would be the case. The Jets still have Rodgers under contract, and without a clear path toward a quarterback upgrade, the team may have to keep the 41-year-old in tow for another season.
Rodgers and McCarthy reportedly had a tense relationship at the end of their time together in Green Bay. Rodgers has denied that, but even so, it’s hard to imagine the duo coexisting again after the messy end to their time together with the Packers.
Perhaps the Jets could choose McCarthy over Rodgers. After all, the 61-year-old interview for the Jets’ head coaching job in 2019 before he landed with the Cowboys.
Still, it seems more likely that the Jets try to avoid compounding any potential issues with Rodgers while exploring other coaching candidates for their vacancy.