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Why hasn’t Mike McCarthy gotten a contract extension yet? ‘Green Bay,’ Jerry Jones says

At training camp, Jones expressed confidence in McCarthy entering his final contract year, but pointed to the Cowboys’ wild-card loss to the Packers as why the coach hasn’t been extended.

OXNARD, Calif. – Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones dismissed the notion Thursday that head coach Mike McCarthy is entering a lame-duck year. McCarthy is in the final year of a five-year contract.

Jones, speaking to a small group of reporters following the opening news conference of training camp, said McCarthy has the ability to become the coach for years to come. But when it comes to lame-duck status, Jones pushed back.

“I don’t agree with you,” Jones said. “I understand the term and I understand how it fits. I don’t look at it that way. There’s a point in there, I know our fans would like it if everybody were on a low contract, but if they won a Super Bowl, they’d get rid of [everybody]. I’m talking about every coach, every player, I’m talking about everybody. I know that’s the fans’ sentiment. I know that for a fact that you don’t domino if you don’t [win a Super Bowl]. But if you get it, it’s glory hole. Oil and gas term of hitting the big well.”

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McCarthy has led the Cowboys to 12 wins in each of the past three seasons but the Cowboys have failed to make a deep postseason run.

Jones was asked if he’s so high on McCarthy, why didn’t he get a contract extension after the 2023 season?

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“Green Bay,” Jones said. “Mike has shown me that I want to have him and he’s qualified and he’s excellent and the players are excellent and he’s shown me that he could be our coach for years to come. He sits next to me in the draft. I really call on him a lot. If you can’t get along with Mike McCarthy, you can’t get along.”

When Jones talks about Green Bay, he means the Cowboys’ NFC Wild Card loss to the Packers, when the No. 2-seeded Cowboys were upset by the seventh-seeded Packers.

Jones also was asked about his relationship with former NFL coach Bill Belichick.

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“I think he may be the best coach, certainly of my time in the NFL, and I happen to be part of a team that had the great Tom Landry, and I’d put him right there,” Jones said. “Bill’s a friend and a great coach.”

Jones said Belichick attended an event at AT&T Stadium in the spring and said he wasn’t sure if the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach would attend a Cowboys’ practice this spring.

“I like Bill Belichick. He’s a friend,” Jones said.

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