Jerry Jones insists Sean Payton 'shouldn't be a conversation piece' for Cowboys coaching job

Jones is backing Mike McCarthy, but also raising expectations

By Jared Dubin

Jun 17, 2022 at 11:46 am ET • 1 min read

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Being a head coach is a tough job. That's especially true when you're the head coach of a high-profile team. And it's even more true when you're the head coach of a high-profile team and you haven't had as much success as the team's owner thinks you should be having.

That's the situation Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is in heading into the third year of his tenure in Dallas. McCarthy went just 6-10 in his first season with the Cowboys amid injuries to various players (including Dak Prescott), then compiled a 12-5 record and claimed an NFC East title in 2021... only to lose to the 49ers in the first round of the playoffs.

Naturally, there's been speculation about McCarthy's job security all offseason. And because this is the Cowboys, there's even been speculation about a potential replacement: former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton. According to Jerry Jones, that speculation should not be happening.

"Sean Payton shouldn't be out there,"Jones said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "For him, the Cowboys, that's just sheer out of the air. It's well known we're good friends and we think a lot of him as a head coach. But in this case, asking the way you're asking, he shouldn't be a conversation piece."

Let's just say it plainly: this is nonsense. Jones knows exactly why there is speculation about Payton, and he actively feeds into it. For example, the next thing he said after declaring that nobody should talk about Payton will surely fuel even more speculation that McCarthy may not be on such stable footing. And of course, if he's not on stable footing, there will surely be even more speculation about Payton potentially taking over.

"Mike has got an opportunity here to win a Super Bowl," Jones said. "That's really the measurement that I look at. But it's also an eternity between right now and next year."

Oh, so McCarthy has a chance to win a Super Bowl ... but if he doesn't, then who knows what will happen. Jerry is leaving bread crumbs, as per his usual. It's not everyone else's fault if we decide to read them.