NFL insider reports potential extension looming for Cowboys’ Mike McCarthy

The Dallas Cowboys take on the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon for what could be win 11 of the year for Mike McCarthy. The head coach is just two wins away from reaching 12 victories in three straight regular seasons as he heads toward the final year of his contract. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys front office won’t wait until McCarthy’s contract runs out to re-up.

Although last season’s early exit from the playoffs prompted upheaval in Dallas, the head coach took over play-calling duties and now, the offense is first overall in the league. Rapoport revealed the latest from Jones on a potential contract extension for McCarthy ahead of the Week 15 matchup.

“McCarthy has a contract extension potentially looming, this according to Jerry Jones, who I talked to this week,” Rapoport shared. “McCarthy heading into the final year of his deal next year. I asked Jerry Jones, ‘When would those conversations take place?’ He said after the season. Based on his words to me, it’s something that could potentially be coming. That would be good news, I would say, for the Cowboys.”

After his exit from Green Bay, McCarthy initially signed a five-year deal when he accepted the job in January of 2020. How long his extension could go for is now up for debate. Jones told the coach this summer that he’d like to keep the former Packers skipper around as long as he did Tom Landry – roughly three decades.

McCarthy: Cowboys focus is on Buffalo

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy didn’t want to look beyond the game against the Bills. He’s a coach, after all. Even if he is allowing himself to mentally flash forward a month, he’s not going to acknowledge it to the media. McCarthy told reporters, Friday, that he’s “focused on 11 wins.”

“You can save that (playoff question) for next week,” McCarthy said. “That’s the goal, but we want to win our division. All the things we said at the beginning of the season, nothing has changed. I’m not up here avoiding the topic, but 11 wins speaks for itself.”

The Cowboys are 10-3. And the number of wins is significant. Dallas has reached double-digit victories in each of the last three years. In years 2021 and 2022, the Cowboys were 12-5. The last time Dallas strung together at least three seasons of 10 or more wins was back during the glory days. The Cowboys reached double digits in 1991 through 1996.

The team has games remaining against the Bills, Dolphins, Lions and Commanders. They’ll be home at AT&T Stadium only one more time. That’s against the Lions on Dec. 30. The Cowboys are 7-0 at home this year, but 3-3 on the road. The Cowboys did some wet ball drills this past week. It’s not going to be snowing in Buffalo, but the weather forecast does call for temps in the 40s and a high chance of rain.

On3’s Suzanne Halliburton contributed to this report.