Cowboys allegedly spoke to Deion Sanders after Mike McCarthy leaves

The Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy are moving in separate ways.

After three postseason berths in five seasons, owner Jerry Jones said on Monday that he and McCarthy were no longer working together as head coach. Since he bought the franchise in 1989, Jones, the general manager and owner of the Cowboys, revealed the organization has started looking for a ninth coach.

One name immediately surfaced as a potential McCarthy replacement:

Deion Sanders is the head coach of Colorado. Several media sites claimed Monday night that the former Cowboys star had a conversation with Jones on Monday, but no official interview is scheduled.

“I have been very complimentary of the job that Mike McCarthy has done throughout his tenure here, including the last several weeks,” Jones said in a statement earlier Monday. That has been true of our performance throughout that time, of our culture and cohesiveness as a team, of Mike’s credentials and success history, and on a personal level as an amazing guy. Mike has guided the team through some really unusual and difficult periods during his career, and I have a lot of respect for him.”

According to Jones, the Cowboys and McCarthy discussed the team’s future for a number of days, but on Monday, everyone involved decided it was time to move on.

“Over the course of the last week, Mike and I had the chance to jointly evaluate every facet of the previous campaign, including our players and staff. We also spent a lot of time talking about the team’s future.

These conversations were in-depth and given enough time and attention to cover everything. However, it became evident to both of us that it would be best for us to proceed in a different way before we got to the stage of contract discussions,” Jones added. “Thank you, Mike. I hope the best for him, his wife, Jessica, and their family. They have been a fantastic addition to this town.

“We will commence a search process immediately to hire the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.”

Despite losing seasons in his first (2020) and last seasons with the Cowboys, McCarthy guided the team to three 12-5 seasons.

The Chicago Bears asked the Cowboys to interview McCarthy last week, and Jones stated in December that he anticipated interest from other clubs due to the coach’s track record on quarterback development. Caleb Williams was selected by the Bears with the first overall pick in the 2024 draft. The New Orleans Saints, where McCarthy was the offensive coordinator from 2000 to 2004, are also interested in interviewing him, according to ESPN.

Following the regular-season finale, McCarthy, 61, stated that he wanted to return since Jones’ public remarks lacked a strong commitment to keeping him and indicated some ambivalence.

“I don’t know that I am considering making a change is really what I’m trying to say,” Jones stated before the regular season ended. “In my opinion, Mike is among the greatest coaches in the world. I believed that he should be the coach here, and he hasn’t done anything to change my mind about him as a coach.”

With only one of the open positions filled, this would be the sixth coaching change in the NFL this season. In 2025, New England swiftly appointed former Titans coach and Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel as their head coach after firing Jerod Mayo one season after hiring him to succeed Bill Belichick.

Along with Sanders, the Cowboys reportedly want to talk about the position with current Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2019 to 22 and former Dallas tight end Jason Witten. Like the highly sought-after Detroit Lions assistants Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, Moore’s access is restricted throughout the playoffs until the Eagles are eliminated.

Despite a slew of serious injuries to key players, including quarterback Dak Prescott’s season-ending injury in early November and a difficult month without top pass rushers Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, Dallas managed to win four of its last seven games.