McCarthy is OUT as HC in Dallas 🙅‍♂️

Wild card weekend is over, and the results from this week’s picks are in: Both Faraz and Zach went 4-2 on their picks. The Chargers let everyone down (or the Texans showed everyone up - you an be the judge), and Faraz hit on his Commanders pick while Zach evened the records up by taking the Rams. Stay tuned for our divisional round picks later this week – Zach went a perfect 4 for 4 last season!

• Cowboys ‘mutually part ways’ with former HC Mike McCarthy after not resigning him prior to the January 14th expiration of his current deal

  • After dragging their feet for the entire week that top head coaching prospects like Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn were available for interviews, the Cowboys announced Monday that they are officially moving on from Mike McCarthy as his contract expires today. By cutting the head off the snake, Dallas has also freed up all of McCarthy’s assistants (including OC Brian Schottenheimer and DC Mike Zimmer) to seek employment elsewhere. That means fundamental change is afoot for the Cowboys as they look to reload for 2025 with Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb, and their offensive line all getting healthy for next year’s campaign. Among the top names being thrown around to replace Mike McCarthy are Deion Sanders, Jason Witten, Jon Gruden, and Kellen Moore. Moore perhaps is the most likely candidate as a former Cowboys QB, quarterbacks coach, and offensive coordinator for the team from 2015-2022, though names like Gruden could also produce favorable results for a Cowboys offense that lacked teeth outside of Lamb’s fourth-consecutive 1000-yard campaign. Regardless, it’ll be important to monitor the situation in the coming weeks, as the next regime to step in will be tasked with keeping Ceedee Lamb and Dak Prescott on the same page and establishing a run game that was missing for the majority of the season in 2024. For what it’s worth, Ashton Jeanty did say that he would ‘love’ to be a Cowboy…

• Browns QB Deshaun Watson re-tears his previously torn achilles in setback during recovery, status for 2025 in doubt

  • Lightning strikes twice for Watson in the span of half a year, with the embattled Browns quarterback heading back to the drawing board in his rehab from an achilles tear he initially suffered against the Bengals in Week 7. Regardless of his physical capability to even participate in physical activity, let alone an NFL game, the biggest question mark surrounding Watson has been his ability to perform at an acceptable level in the NFL. A second major injury to the same achilles that held him out for the majority of the season in 2024 obviously precludes him from an opportunity to rewrite the narrative surrounding his play and now places the Browns organization under the microscope regarding who will be starting under center in 2025. One thing is certain: that player will NOT be Deshaun Watson. Among Cleveland’s options are two quarterbacks who took up the starting mantle this past season in Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Jameis Winston, as well as any of the top quarterbacks from this year’s college draft class. Whoever winds up taking command of the Browns’ offense will step into a relatively well-rounded offense, with names like Jerry Jeudy, David Njoku, Cedric Tillman, and Elijah Moore headlining a perfectly solid receiving corps. Not only should Watson be off the radar in redraft leagues, but there’s an argument that he can be put on ice in a majority of dynasty leagues, as well.

The ideal hire: Ben Johnson (OC, Detroit Lions)

Is this going to happen? Most likely, no – but one can dream. It’s rumored that Johnson is looking for a strong young core with pieces to build around to make his head coaching debut, and with Dak Prescott entering his age 32 season and Ceedee Lamb as the only other offensive skill player of note, the Cowboys aren’t necessarily a match for that criteria. But if Dallas would draft a guy like Jeanty at running back in the first round this year, they could field a prolific fantasy offense with Johnson at the controls. Ultimately, Jerry Jones’ ego will stand himself and a strong hire like this one – but Johnson should be able to find success wherever he ends up. He’s a class ahead of the next candidate on this list, who also happens to be a relatively solid option from a fantasy perspective…

The likely hire: Kellen Moore (OC, Philadelphia Eagles)

I wrote about this being the most likely hire earlier in the newsletter – especially given Jerry’s penchant for familiarity and a proven track record in his head coaches. Not only that, but Moore is a purebred product of the Cowboys system and arguably earned his OC roles with the Chargers in 2023 and the Eagles this past season thanks to his work with the Cowboys and Dak Prescott. From a fantasy perspective, this would be a welcome hire – Moore spearheaded one of the flashiest, highest-scoring offenses in the league with Dak Prescott healthy during his time as coordinator from 2019-2022. He could help Dallas air things out again in 2025.

The sneaky good hire: Former HC Jon Gruden

Gruden is currently employed at Barstool sports in a cushy social media job, so whether or not he’d elect to leave that gig to deal with the Jones boys full time is definitely questionable. But given the alternative of a defensive head coach as opposed to an offensive mind, Gruden fits the bill for fantasy footballers. He hasn’t fielded a top-10 offense by points scored since his days with the Buccaneers (2007 to be exact), but it’s understandable when you consider the plight of the Raiders as an organization for the majority of the past decade and a half. He hasn’t been on an NFL sideline since 2021, which is similar to McCarthy’s gap year before taking the Cowboys job in 2020. He’s not the first choice, but he certainly wouldn’t be close to the last choice, either.

The Former Players: Deion Sanders, Jason Witten

Could Jerry try and duplicate the Lions’ success with a former tight end of his own as the head coach for 2025? There appear to be legitimate rumblings about former Cowboys TE Jason Witten getting the call up the NFL level from his position as a high school football coach. Granted, he did win the championship there in his first year, but he has no NFL coaching experience – even as a positions coach or coordinator. If Witten would be hired, the OC pick would be a primary focus for fantasy football managers looking to have some exposure in the Cowboys offense.

Meanwhile, Jerry has already contacted current Colorado Buffaloes HC Deion Sanders about the Cowboys opening, which Deion himself has called ‘intriguing’. However, it seems like he’s content to remain in Boulder, and barring a sudden change of heart, it’s hard to imagine Sanders on an NFL sideline in 2025 – especially if the team he’s coaching doesn’t also have his son Shedeur under center. The logistics of moving Deion to Dallas are just a bit too complicated, but hiring Sanders would certainly raise some eyebrows – and much like a prospective Witten hire, all eyes would be on whoever the Cowboys would bring in as OC.