What’s next for Mike McCarthy? Holy, bears among the best fits

On January 14, 2025By Littum

Mike McCarthy spent five years with Dallas Cowboys. Now, the longtime NFL head coach will be looking for a new challenge.

McCarthy and Cowboys could not agree on terms for a new contract for the head coach before his deal expires on January 14, 2025. As a result, the two are parting ways and McCarthy will be free to seek a new job.

McCarthy is expected to draw interest from the remaining five NFL teams with coaching vacancies. The 61-year-old posted a 49-35 record over his five seasons with the Cowboys and led Dallas to the playoffs in three of those campaigns, all of which saw the team post a 12-5 record.

Where could McCarthy end up? Here’s a look at some of his most realistic landing spots for the 2025 NFL offseason.

The Saints is expected to be “very interested” in McCarthy now that he is available as of NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.

McCarthy got his first offensive coordinator job with the Saints way back in 2000. He spent five seasons with the team and routinely led them to solid offensive performances, with the team’s third-ranked scoring attack in 2002 being his best unit.

Much has changed for McCarthy since then, but his history with the Saints is key. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports that “familiarity will be a factor” in New Orleans’ coaching search, so McCarthy’s ties to the team could make him among the top Saints coaching candidates along with Aaron Glenn and Joe Brady.

The only question is whether McCarthy would be interested in coaching the Saints, who have serious salary cap issues and will likely need to rebuild to become a wild-card contender again.

If McCarthy is concerned about the talent level on New Orleans’ roster, he may have more interest Bears. Chicago already requested to interview McCarthy while he was still under contract with the Cowboys. The Bears were denied permission to do so, but now they can pursue McCarthy as he becomes a free agent.

The Bears are coming off a rough season — which saw the team collapse after allowing the Washington Commanders to beat them with a Week 8 Hail Mary — but they have plenty of offensive weapons in Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet. McCarthy could see a path to wild-card contention with that group, especially if he can help develop Williams after the 2024 NFL draft’s No. 1 pick struggled as a rookie.

McCarthy helped Dak Prescott enjoyed some of his best years in Dallas, including the 2023 season when he finished as the runner-up for the NFL’s MVP award. His history of getting strong quarterback play out of talented prospects like Prescott and Aaron Rodgers will likely intrigue the Bears and make him a legitimate candidate for the job.

McCarthy’s case for the job will also be bolstered by his 19-7 career record against the Bears.

Since the takeover of Jaguars in 2012, owner Shad Khan has tended to alternate between hiring coaches with previous NFL head coaching experience (like Doug Marrone and Pederson) and inexperienced, swing-for-the-fence moves (like Gus Bradley and Urban Meyer). That could put Jacksonville on the path to taking a chance on an up-and-coming coordinator candidate this cycle, like Joe Brady, rather than a retread like McCarthy.

Still, McCarthy could attract interest from the Jaguars as a proven winner. Jacksonville is looking for a candidate who can make the most of the 2021 No. 1 choice Trevor Lawrenceand McCarthy’s track record could make Khan a believer.

The Raiders could use some coaching stability as the position has been in flux since Jon Gruden resigned from his position during the 2021 NFL season after emails containing racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks he sent while working for ESPN , was leaked to the media.

McCarthy would see to that. He would close the revolving door that has featured interim coach Rich Bisaccia, Josh McDaniels and interim coach Antonio Pierce over the course of four seasons. McCarthy could also get Las Vegas’ offense back on track after it finished in the bottom six in both yards and points for the season.

That said, the Raiders don’t have a proven starter at quarterback and don’t have a clear path to one of the top signal-calling options in a relatively weak 2025 NFL draft class. That could deter McCarthy from taking the job, so again, it doesn’t seem like a likely landing spot for the veteran coach.

Is Mike McCarthy a New York Jets coaching candidate?

As exciting as the idea of McCarthy potentially teaming up with Aaron Rodgers again would be, Zach Rosenblatt of The Athletic reports that he does not expect it Jets to pursue McCarthy.

It is easy to understand why this would be the case. The Jets still have Rodgers under contract, and without a clear path toward a quarterback upgrade, the team may have to keep the 41-year-old in tow for another season.

Rodgers and McCarthy reportedly had a strained relationship at the end of their time together in Green Bay. Rodgers has denied thatbut still, it’s hard to imagine the duo co-existing again after the messy end to their time with the Packers.

Maybe the Jets could pick McCarthy over Rodgers. The 61-year-old interviewed for the Jets’ head coaching job in 2019 before landing with the Cowboys.

Still, it seems more likely that the Jets are trying to avoid exacerbating potential issues with Rodgers while they explore other coaching candidates for their vacancy.