A less-charitable one, considering Dallas’ breadth of data on McCarthy’s performance and this season effectively being over since October, is this being the latest clumsy attempt at a football telenovela, with the plot twist—surprise, Mike is gone after all!—timed to drop the morning after two of Dallas’ NFC East rivals each won playoff games.

The Dallas Cowboys’ miserable 2024 season ended on Sunday. For Mike McCarthy, he hopes this isn’t the final go. Naturally, Dallas couldn’t go without one last slip-up, as the undermanned Washington Commanders took them down in the final moments.

A new NFL head coaching job opened up this week, and thus, another opportunity presented itself to Robert Saleh.