What a disastrous last couple weeks it has been for the Dallas Cowboys. On top of Dak Prescott likely heading to injured reserve with his hamstring injury, Dallas had a perfect opportunity to obtain some extra draft capital before Tuesday's trade deadline.
And yet, Jerry Jones decided to ship out a fourth-round pick for a wide receiver - former Panthers second-round pick Jonathan Mingo - who doesn't have a touchdown catch in 24 career games. The problem isn't that Mingo was brought in, but what the front office gave up to get him.
The trade, which set social media ablaze, has distracted from Mike McCarthy's devilish coaching display in Week 9 against the Falcons. It has been far from a banner season from McCarthy, who's seat is among the hottest in the NFL after the Saints fired Dennis Allen.
It's widely expected that McCarthy will be made the scapegoat for this letdown of a season. While McCarthy's fate won't be revealed until January, Jones made oddly familiar comments this week that seems to foreshadow bad news for the Cowboys' head coach.
Jerry Jones' quote proves Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is dead-man walking
"I’m good with Mike. I know how hard he works. I like his football mind. I know how good he works. He’s got, in my mind, an outstanding coaching record. He’s really good with the players. They think highly of him. He’s got a lot of fire in his belly. So, I’m just giving you this, I like the positives I see. And by the way, frankly, some of the best coaches I’ve been around, I got to see them when times were bad."Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
You're probably thinking how praise bodes well for McCarthy. Well, William Steele of AtoZ Sports Dallas dug up an old quote Jones made about Jason Garrett about one month before Garrett was handed his walking papers.
1 month before Jason Garrett coached his last game for the Cowboys https://t.co/Ya531IMoYK pic.twitter.com/QzOHxyNwRA
— Skywalker Steele (@SkywalkerSteele) November 4, 2024
Yeah ... McCarthy might be screwed.
In the final year of his contract, McCarthy is carrying the dreaded lame-duck label. Despite leading Dallas to three consecutive 12-win seasons, McCarthy likely needed a deep playoff run to retain his job.
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With a 3-5 record and having to navigate a difficult upcoming schedule without Dak Prescott, the Cowboys are closer to securing a top-10 pick than making the playoffs. While backup Cooper Rush has kept the ship afloat in the past, the current iteration of Dallas is nowhere close to those teams in terms of talent, health and execution.
The bottom line is take Jones' comments with a grain of salt. He showered Garrett with similar praise back in 2019 and everyone knew Garrett's fate as the Cowboys missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
There are a lot of parallels between Garrett's final season and the current campaign. Dallas made headlines on a weekly basis and, despite an abundance of talent, struggled to beat adequate competition while looking like a world-beater against bottom-feeders.
The sad part is there are nine games left on the schedule. The outcome feels inevitable, so we're really just going through the motions for the next two months.