It is not a matter of if the Cowboys are going to give coach Jason Garrett an extension, it's a matter of when the Cowboys will give Garrett an extension. How many years and how much money will be involved are concerns too, I guess, but coaching salaries don't get anyone hot and bothered.
What gets people worked up is whether or not a guy like Garrett should have the Cowboys gig despite some struggles with in-game management at various points of his coaching career. Jerry Jones does not share those concerns and believes if Garrett had been a free agent during the NFL hiring cycle, "he would've had five offers" from other teams.
"If Jason Garrett had been out on the market two weeks ago, he would've had five offers for head coaching. I know that," Jones said on his weekly appearance on "The Shan and RJ Show" on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
This is kind of an interesting claim. Initially it sounds a lot one of those crazy things that Jerry usually lobs out. Jason Garrett would be wanted by more than an eighth of the NFL if he was a free agent? Please.
Stream the AFC Championship Game on CBS All Access and the NFC Championship Game on fuboTV, try it for free. And it's not too early to look ahead to the Super Bowl (Sunday, Feb. 3, 6:30 p.m. ET on CBS, stream on CBSSports.com or the CBS Sports app which is available on most connected devices).
But if you look at the job openings -- let's just consult my handy NFL head coach vacancy rankings -- I don't think it's unreasonable to think there would be teams interested in him.
I would say he probably does not draw interest in either Green Bay or Cleveland. I can't see Garrett fitting with Baker Mayfield and the Packers clearly wanted to go younger (Garrett is only 52 however) and away from "established" offensive minds.
That leaves six jobs available, so Garrett would need to be hired by all but one team. I don't think it's crazy to think the Jets would be interested in Garrett. He would be perfect for that market, outside of the tabloids consistently making jokes about him clapping. And I can see the Jets convincing themselves he could work with Darnold. At the very least he wouldn't freak everyone out at his opening press conference.
The Bengals, Cardinals and Dolphins all qualify as teams who would have to at least be interested in looking at Garrett. Whether or not they would make him an offer, well, that remains to be seen. But he's got a 56 percent win rate with Dallas, in a tough market, and has won two division titles in the last three years. Clubs struggling as much as those three would be insane not to at least interview and maybe try to hire him.
Let's go ahead and assume the same for the Broncos and Buccaneers too. Back-to-back losing seasons for John Elway's franchise equates to desperation and although Garrett doesn't fit the same mold as Vic Fangio, it would not be surprising if Elway went to another quarterback to help him, especially one who fits the mold of the type of coach (subservient) he would prefer. And in Tampa Bay, the Bucs went after an offensive mind (Bruce Arians) who had a lot of success in recent years. Both of those teams fit as a landing spot for Jason Garrett.
So, yeah, maybe Jerry is right. Maybe Jason Garrett, if he were let go by the Cowboys, would end up having a job pretty quickly and maybe he would end up having five teams fighting over his services. It seems crazy to think that Garrett, by and large dismissed by a lot of people as a head coach, would be so in demand.
Maybe it's a reflection on the state of coaching in the NFL. Maybe it's a reflection on how hard it is to be an NFL head coach.
Whatever the case, that line of thinking should make it pretty easy for the Cowboys owner to give him some absurd extension this offseason, paying Garrett something in the range of $50 million for the next five years, and maybe more. Life is good if you're the Cowboys coach, as long as you're winning football games.
