Analyst: No doubt Cowboys' Jerry Jones will seek Sean Payton if HC underperforms

Mike McCarthy hasn't won a playoff game in two seasons as the Cowboys head coach, so it's no surprise he appears on numerous NFL hot seat lists. If he underperforms this season, could he be replaced by former Saints head coach Sean Payton? 

“Let’s be honest, if (Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones has a crack at (Sean) Payton, he’s taking it," Sports Illustrated NFL reporter Conor Orr writes. "He also has one of the most sought-after young offensive minds in football, Kellen Moore, on staff, and Dan Quinn as his defensive coordinator. If the Cowboys marginally underperform, there’s no way this doesn’t get complicated.”

Payton used the Cowboys as a career launching pad. He was Pro Hall of Famer’s Bill Parcells' assistant head coach for two seasons before taking the New Orleans job in 2006. 

In July, a source who is close to Payton told the Miami Herald the Cowboys are “among the teams” that would interest him if he came out of retirement. 

Jones tried to tamp down that speculation.

“He shouldn’t be a conversation piece,” Jones told The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “Mike is not only here, but he's in the best position, in my mind, to lead this team.”

McCarthy won a Super Bowl in Green Bay, but many believed he underachieved there with Aaron Rodgers, a future Hall of Famer.  

“Mike has a low football IQ, and that used to bother Aaron,” an unnamed source told Bleacher Report’s Tyler Dunne. “He’d say Mike has one of the lowest IQs, if not the lowest IQ, of any coach he’s ever had.”

The Packers fired McCarthy in 2018. If the Cowboys fall short again, he may not see a fourth season with Jones' team.