Jerry Jones praises Mike McCarthy, mum on potential Cowboys extension

The Dallas Cowboys' chances of making the NFL playoffs all but evaporated following their 27-20 Week 14 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on "Monday Night Football."

Now, Dallas faces a key decision about its future. Will Mike McCarthy return to coach the team in 2025 or will the Cowboys go in another direction?

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones isn't ready to commit to any decision about McCarthy, as he explained during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday.

"You're going to the inner parts of my mind this morning," Jones said with a chuckle when asked about a potential McCarthy extension. "I'm not too sure I'm ready to go there, but there's no secrets in there."

Jones was likely speaking about having to think deeply during the morning radio hit, which occurred at 8:30 a.m. local time in the Dallas area, rather than being entirely undecided about McCarthy's future.

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Either way, Jones didn't tip his hand. The 82-year-old simply noted that he would rely on his experience with the team, which he has been running since 1989, to guide him as Dallas considers changes following a rough 2024 season.

Jones did, however, offer up plenty of praise of McCarthy. He noted that the endorsements given to the coach by Dak Prescott, Micah Parsons and Troy Aikman were "not surprising at all" and were indicative of the success McCarthy has enjoyed during his NFL career.

"He wouldn't be in this job had he not had the kind of credibility that those endorsements reflect," Jones said. "He's a heck of a head coach in the NFL, and he's got the skins on the wall to prove it."

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Jones seemed particularly pleased that Prescott was happy with McCarthy's performance and referenced that continuity could prove beneficial for Prescott and McCarthy alike.

"Do we want to benefit from these last five years that Mike has had with Dak Prescott?" Jones queried. "We've got Dak Prescott going forward, an incremental part of how we're going to be as a team over the next few years to come. You couldn't, in my mind, have anyone any better influencing the best and bringing out the best in Dak Prescott than Mike McCarthy."

That comment could prove significant. Why? Because Jones gave a ringing endorsement of Prescott during his radio appearance on Tuesday.

"It's obvious that our quarterback for the future is Dak Prescott," Jones said. "We don't have to have guess work about who is our quarterback."

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This shouldn't be a surprise. After all, the Cowboys made Prescott the highest-paid player in NFL history on eve of the 2024 NFL season.

That said, there is a certain amount of guess work being done on the Cowboys' head coach for 2025. So, seeing Jones endorse McCarthy – and, more specifically, watching Prescott back his fifth-year head coach – could indicate that Jones isn't bluffing while considering giving McCarthy another season.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jerry Jones endorses Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott tandem