Jerry Jones kept Mike McCarthy: Dallas Cowboys' next steps - ESPN

FRISCO, Texas — Mike McCarthy has come up with different themes for each Dallas Cowboys season. In 2023, it was "Carpe Omnia," Latin for seize everything.

With owner and general manager Jerry Jones bringing back McCarthy for a fifth season, the coach might not have to put much thought into the 2024 theme.

How does «All or Nothing» sound?

McCarthy signed a five-year deal with the Cowboys in 2020, and there was no word of any kind of extension being agreed to when the coach met with Jones on Wednesday.

Add in that quarterback Dak Prescott also will be entering the final year of his contract with the Cowboys, and it is shaping up as, well, all or nothing.

The Cowboys have time to work on a Prescott extension between now and the start of the season, but he is set to count $59.4 million against the salary cap. Without an extension or the addition of voidable years to Prescott's contract, it would be difficult for the Cowboys to add free agents or retain their own key players. But Prescott has gone eight years as the starter and has a 2-5 postseason record without an appearance in a conference title game.

The Cowboys would have to weigh the importance of signing him to a deal that would make him among the highest-paid quarterbacks in the game — in the $50 million-a-year neighborhood — without proven playoff success, while also knowing they cannot place the franchise tag on him in 2025.

There are other questions to consider with McCarthy returning:

He has a 42-25 record. He has won two NFC East titles in the past three seasons. With McCarthy calling plays this season for the first time in his tenure with the Cowboys, Prescott responded with his best campaign, leading the NFL in touchdown passes (36) a year after he tied for the