The Dallas Cowboys are off to a bad start after they fell 23-13 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football in Week 6. This is their second straight loss, and they came out flat despite having 10 days to prepare.
Although many people believed this team was talented on both sides of the ball, the results haven't followed. You have to look at the head coach, and with how the team has looked over the first six weeks, Brian Schottenheimer is in the limelight. Yet, blame shouldn't pass over owner Jerry Jones.
Jerry Jones' decision on Brian Schottenheimer is haunting Dallas
Jones will spend on the roster, facilities, and the stadium, but where he draws the line is how much he will spend on a head coach. For whatever reason, he won't spend a lot on the head of the operation, and he did exactly that with Schottenheimer.
Last year, Jones promoted Schottenheimer from offensive coordinator to head coach. Schottenheimer is making $4.5 million per season, which falls into the bottom half of head coach salaries. One look at Dallas' history makes this point even more frustrating.
Back in 2002, the Cowboys hired Bill Parcells as their head coach, giving him a four-year, $17.1 million deal. That came to $4.275 million per season, which is nearly identical to what Scotty is making. Yet, that contract came 24 years ago.
In the current NFL landscape, teams and owners are coughing up some serious money for their head coaches. And here's how they rank for the 2026 season.
Highest-paid NFL coaches 2026
1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs, $20 million
1. John Harbaugh, New York Giants, $20 million
1. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos, $20 million
4. Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams, $19 million
4. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers, $19 million
6. Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers, $16 million
7. Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers, $15 million
7. Kevin Stefanski, Atlanta Falcons, $15 million
7. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles, $15 million
10. Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots, $14 million
11. Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings, $13 million
11. Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears, $13 million
13. Aaron Glenn, New York Jets, $12 million
13. Jesse Minter, Baltimore Ravens, $12 million
13. Kint Kubiak, Las Vegas Raiders, $12 million
This list features 15 coaches, and there are still several other coaches who get paid more than Schotty. That's a problem, especially for an owner who is as rich as Jones. Not trying to count Jones' dollars, but putting extra funds to land a top head coaching candidate hasn't been something he wants to do.
Will Jerry Jones ever pay up for a head coach?
That is something that has followed the Cowboys for years. Even when Mike McCarthy, Wade Phillips, and Jason Garrett were the head coaches, they weren't in the top half of salaries for head coaches.
The Cowboys' penny-pinching with the Scotty hire is already backfiring. He didn't have any head coaching experience prior to landing the job here. The learning curve is still taking place, as the team doesn't look prepared in multiple phases.
They aren't a disciplined team, and this coaching staff isn't maximizing the talent of this roster. In the loss to Green Bay, they had 10 days to prepare, but it didn't look like it. They committed 11 penalties for 106 yards and were down 17-0 at halftime.
This team is better than its 2-4 record suggests. Through two seasons, Dallas is 9-13-1 under Schottenheimer. That isn't the result the Cowboys expect given the talent on their roster, but it's exactly what Jones deserves for the process that landed him on Schottenheimer.
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