Cowboys reject Bears permission to talk to Mike McCarthy for HC opening

On Monday, the Chicago Bears officially requested the ability to speak to Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy for their head coaching vacancy. Per NFL rules, the Cowboys would be given the opportunity to deny the Bears that permission, considering that McCarthy is currently the sitting head coach of the team, even though Dallas’ season is over and the coach is on an expiring contract.

On Tuesday night, the Cowboys rejected the Bears’ permission to talk to McCarthy, which gives us a hint that owner Jerry Jones could bring him back in 2025. McCarthy stated in a press conference this past week that after weighing his options, including hitting the open market, his wish was to return to Dallas for next season. Now, the ball is in Jones’ court, and he has blocked Chicago from talking to his coach.

At the moment, the Cowboys own an “exclusive negotiating window” with McCarthy, meaning that if any other club talks to him without their permission then it’ll be considered as tampering by the league. That window closes on January 14th, just a week away, so Dallas will need to dot Is and cross Ts quickly with McCarthy, if they don’t want him to go to the open market.

McCarthy was just 1 of 13 head coaching candidates that the Bears have requested to interview so far, though, so it was no promise that he would even land the job if he were allowed to interview for it. Earlier today, Chicago general manager Ryan Pole said of the coaching search, “There’s going to be some names that you don’t expect, that will surprise you.”

In Green Bay, Chicago’s divisional rival, McCarthy posted a 125-77-2 record with the Packers and went 10-8 in the postseason, including a Super Bowl XLV victory. Since joining the Cowboys, McCarthy has gone 49-35, 36-22 when starting quarterback Dak Prescott has been under center, and 1-3 in the playoffs. McCarthy’s most recent postseason game was a loss to the Packers in the NFC Wild Card round at home in 2023.