Should Cowboys Someday Hire Tomlin?...

Should Cowboys Someday Hire Tomlin?

Following the Cowboys 2023 season’s abrupt end due to a Wild Card beating by the Green Bay Packers, we looked at possible Mike

McCarthy replacements in the event that Dallas dismissed McCarthy. For the time being, though, that proved to be moot because

McCarthy was retained by the Cowboys. However, there is still a chance to hire one of the most

interesting applicants on that list in the end.

Of the four candidates we wrote about in the original piece, three — Jim Harbaugh, Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel — aren’t currently

under contract with any NFL teams. The fourth, Tomlin, is. And as it turns out, Tomlin will return to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024

for the final year of his current contract. Tomlin, now the longest-tenured coach in the NFL, even expressed optimism about reaching

a long-term deal to remain in his current post.

“I expect to be back, and I would imagine that those contract things are going to run their course,” Tomlin said. “Art [Rooney II] and I

have a really good, transparent relationship. We communicate continually often. I don’t imagine it’s going to be an issue, and I

imagine it’s going to get done in a timely manner at the appropriate time, but my mindset is to coach his football team.”

But until the ink dries on his new deal, Tomlin is slated to be a lame duck in 2024. He could play out the final year of his contract,

setting him up to be able to choose his destination for 2025 — either the Steelers, another team or taking a year off to recharge.

McCarthy isn’t likely to earn a contract extension this offseason (of course he isn’t), as CowboysSI.com reported last Wednesday (and

then as the national media regurgitated over the weekend). That means he will likewise be a lame duck in 2024. Jerry Jones may be

forced to make a change if the Cowboys miss out on the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1995 campaign, even

though he has shown himself to be fairly devoted to his coaches in recent years.

And Tomlin would make even more sense next offseason than he would have this year. Assuming he doesn’t sign an extension this

offseason, Tomlin would be a free agent next year. Had the Cowboys moved on from McCarthy this offseason, they would have needed

to not only get Tomlin on board, but also work out a trade with the Steelers,

which probably would have required significant draft compensation going back to Pittsburgh.