NFL insider questions Bill Belichick to Cowboys chatter

Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram recently poured cold water over the idea that Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones could replace head coach Mike McCarthy with former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick this winter. 

ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano followed in Engel's footsteps following Dallas' 48-32 wild-card playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon. 

"First, we don't have any reason to believe, other than those outside rumblings, that Jones would even consider firing McCarthy," Graziano explained for a piece published Monday. "Again, he has won 12 games in each of the past three seasons. This season, he took over the offense, and both that unit and (quarterback Dak Prescott) got better. Everything I've heard from inside the Dallas building is that the team is very happy with the job McCarthy is doing. Could something like Sunday change that? Sure. But we don't need to assume it will."

It was widely thought leading up to the playoffs that McCarthy may have to guide the Cowboys to at least the NFC Championship Game to ensure Jones wouldn't reach out to Belichick this month. Instead, McCarthy now has lost three of four postseason matchups during his Dallas tenure that began in 2020. 

Matt Vautour of MassLive mentioned on Monday that Jones has "thought about hiring Bill Belichick for almost 30 years." Even if that's true, Graziano pointed out there's no guarantee Belichick wants to work for Jones. 

"The Dallas head coach has to be someone who's comfortable with the very active and public role that Jones plays," Graziano continued. "The Cowboys are as public with their business as any team in the league, and Belichick famously wants to never reveal anything about what his team is doing. He and Jones might not be able to work together."

Graziano went on to name current Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as "the most likely 2024 Cowboys coach" if Jones blows things up. As for Belichick, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported over the weekend that the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach and the Atlanta Falcons have "mutual interest" in a working relationship.