Cowboys stars want McCarthy back as coach

FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys are fully committed to Dak Prescott, and their franchise quarterback wants Mike McCarthy back as the coach.

So do standout receiver CeeDee Lamb and star edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Team owner Jerry Jones, at least publicly, hasn’t been as clear about his plans with McCarthy’s contract set to expire after completing his fifth season. They likely will be talking later this week about what is next.

Jones spoke to reporters for more than 45 minutes after the Cowboys ended their 7-10 season with a last-second loss to playoff-bound Washington, saying he didn’t know if he was even considering making a coaching change and talking about McCarthy being one of the league’s best coaches. But the owner never provided any certainty that the coach would remain with the team.

“I’m not trying in any way to play a guessing game here with anybody,” Jones said. “We’ve got some work to do, and we need to do some things differently, and we can, and that’s usually the case.”

Dallas has now gone 29 seasons since the last of its five Super Bowl titles. The Cowboys haven’t made it past the divisional round of the NFC playoffs since that 1995 season, including after three consecutive 12-5 regular seasons under McCarthy.

Prescott, after agreeing to a record $240 million, four-year contract right before the season opener, missed the final nine games with a torn hamstring. Lamb, perennial All-Pro guard Zack Martin, cornerback Trevon Diggs and rushing defender DeMarcus Lawrence also finished the season on injured reserve.

The big question after a season plagued by injuries to so many Pro Bowl-caliber players is if the Cowboys can get back to where they were in the previous three years.

“This is the lowest of the lows, I would say. And if you give myself another opportunity, you give this is locker room another opportunity and attack this thing in the right way, I promise you will be a playoff-contending team this year,” Parsons said. “I know the challenges that we face and how we can still overcome those things if we are still in it together. So I’m glad I went through this this year. You know, it is humbling, you know, to be reground, reset.”

McCarthy will almost certainly have other options if he doesn’t stay in Dallas, but said he and the Cowboys have a lot invested in each other and that there was no question in his mind that he was in position to move forward with Jones. He is 49-35 with the Cowboys, and has a 174-112-2 record in 18 seasons overall as an NFL coach, the first 13 with Green Bay and with a Super Bowl win, though that was 14 years ago at AT&T Stadium.

“I’ll just be clear. I’m a winner. I know how to win. I’ve won a championship. I won a championship in this building,” McCarthy said after the season-ending 23-19 loss to the Commanders, who scored the winning touchdown with 3 seconds left. “We’ll see where it goes.”

Payday for Parsons?

Parsons, the first player since Reggie White in 1982 with at least 12 sacks in each of his first four seasons, is next in line after Prescott and Lamb for a big contract. Lamb got a $136 million, four-year deal in August after a month-long holdout before the final season of his rookie contract.

With Parsons now heading into the final season of his rookie contract, the Penn State standout said he hopes to have a new deal in place as soon as possible. But he has said that he doesn’t intend on holding out.

Even though he missed four games this season with a high ankle sprain, Parsons finished with 12 sacks after 2 1/2 in the last game. He had two on the opening drive.

Aubrey getting his kicks

Brandon Aubrey kicked four field goals in the finale, giving him an franchise-record 40. He is only the fifth kicker in NFL history with at least 40 field goals, joining Chris Boswell (41) this season, and behind David Akers’ record 44 in 2011.

None of Aubrey’s kicks Sunday was from 50 yards, but his 14 this season were an NFL record.

After 36 field goals as a rookie last season, Aubrey is the only NFL kicker to make at least 35 field goals in each of his first two seasons.

Other coaching contracts expiring

McCarthy isn’t the only Cowboys coach on an expiring contract. His entire staff of assistants was signed only through this season. That includes offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and special teams coordinator John Fassel.

Next steps

The decision on McCarthy’s future has to be determined first of all before the Cowboys can really move forward in the offseason.

After that comes the recovery of the players who were injured this season, including Prescott, right guard Martin and Diggs, the cornerback who has had consecutive injury-filled seasons.

Martin, a 2014 first-round draft pick and seven-time All-Pro pick, had season-ending ankle surgery in December. The decision by the 34-year-old on whether to come back for a 12th NFL season could determine how much more flux there will be for the offensive line.