This Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round. The NFC East champions returned empty handed and now need to find answers as to where they are going.
One of the major changes Dallas could make is to replace Mike McCarthy. Although the Jones family seems to have committed to the second-year coach, it is possible that a better candidate would be available to the Cowboys.
An interesting proposal was made by Michael Lombardi, the former NFL general manger. He stated that he believed Jerry Jones would let go of McCarthy if there was an opportunity to bring the New Orleans Saints’ head coach Sean Payton from New Orleans to Dallas.
Lombardi explained that there was always a connection between Sean Payton and the Dallas Cowboys on the January 17th edition of The GM Shuffle podcast. “The Jones family loves Sean. Sean loves Dallas. Sean loves the Jones [family]. There is a mutual, mutual love affair. Is Sean able to get out of his contract? His contract with the New Orleans Saints is up for one year. Is he allowed to get out of this? Can he get out of this? He could just walk to Dallas.
“I don’t know. I’m not trying to spread gossip.” … Jerry would fire McCarthy if he could get (Payton).
There's a lot of talk about Sean Payton leaving New Orleans… and he has strong connections with the Cowboys. That could have a significant impact on what Jerry Jones decides to do with McCarthy.
Wild Card Weekend recap on the latest GM Shuffle: https://t.co/W4dyJbJ7HQ pic.twitter.com/pcU3qj22I9
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) January 17, 2022
Lombardi went on to note that “this week will be very fascinating to see if Sean does in fact come back to New Orleans or decides to walk away or what happens and I think that could motivate Jerry into a decision.”
Payton is a Saints legend and it’s hard to imagine him leaving New Orleans. Jones and the Cowboys hold a lot of power and could pull off any feats to bring Payton aboard, however.
Dallas appears to be committed to McCarthy at the moment. Maybe that will change over the next few weeks, but the Cowboys seem ready to make the move to 2022 with McCarthy at the helm.