3 dream Cowboys Mike McCarthy replacements who can keep Jerry Jones' ego in check

More than a week after the team's regular season came to an end last Sunday, we finally have some modicum of clarity about the Dallas Cowboys' head coaching situation. According to a report on Monday morning from ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cowboys and current coach Mike McCarthy still haven't opened negotiations about a new deal in Dallas, and with Mike McCarthy's contract set to expire on Tuesday, it's looking more than likely that he'll be free to test the waters elsewhere.

On the one hand, you can understand why the Cowboys might be willing to let McCarthy walk, given how badly the team regressed this year and its repeated failures to get over the postseason hump. But Jerry Jones, in true Jerry Jones fashion, has gone about doing so in the strangest way imaginable, choosing to simply run out the clock while other teams are busy conducting interviews and making hires. Dallas had plenty of time to make a decision about McCarthy's future; whether the team wants to keep him around or not, why wouldn't it be showing more urgency now that the season has finally ended?

Of course, the answer might be what it always seems to be with Jones: stubbornness, with a side of penny-pinching. Jones clearly wasn't sold on cutting bait with McCarthy, or else he wouldn't have shot down the Chicago Bears' interview request last week. But he also hates feeling like he's losing a negotiation, and his reported offer to McCarthy sure sounds like a slap in the face — between retaining personnal control and insisting on several performance incentives, it's not a contract that signals an openness to negotiating.

So, being told it was Jones' way or the highway, McCarthy appears to have chosen the latter, and you can't really blame him. But while Dallas fans are likely fine with the idea of him coaching elsewhere next season and beyond, Jones' attitude during this entire saga can't have them feeling great about the direction of the franchise — no matter who it hires next. If the Cowboys want to get back to Super Bowl contention, they're going to need a coach that can tell its meddling owner no every now and again.

3. Vikings DC Brian Flores

Jones doesn't seem particularly likely to entertain a coaching candidate still actively suing the NFL, but Flores has put together quite the argument for a second crack at a head job with his work with the Vikings defense over the past couple of years. More importantly, he's a strong personality, one who wouldn't take too kindly to Jones telling him how to do his job or how much he's worth. Flores would seem to be the ideal fit to maximize the defensive personnel Dallas currently has on the roster, and if he pushes back on Jones a bit, well, all the better.

2. Lions OC Ben Johnson

You could just as easily put Detroit's other coordinator, DC Aaron Glenn, here as well, given his coaching acumen and his strong-willed demeanor — the Bill Parcells/Dan Campbell coaching tree would seem to be exactly what this job requires. But we'll go with Johnson here, both because the Dallas offense is desperately in need of a refresh after years of McCarthy's schematic stagnancy and because a man reportedly willing to hold out for a $15 million per year offer is a man who can stare Jones down and wait for him to blink first.

Johnson may not have head coaching experience, but everything we know about him, from his personality to his tutelage under Campbell in Detroit, suggests he has a very clear vision for how he wants to structure an organization, and he won't let Jones get in the way of it.

1. Colorado HC Deion Sanders

We know, Coach Prime has shot down NFL rumors at multiple points this season, and it's likely that he'll only jump to the pros if it comes with a chance to coach his son Shedeur. But Dallas moving up to draft the former Colorado QB isn't completely out of the question, and Sanders might be the only viable coaching candidate on the market this cycle that looms large enough to command Jones' respect. He's won everywhere he's been so far in his coaching career, and while he and ownership might butt heads, the Cowboys could maybe use a little of that these days. And arguably no one is better positioned to lead an NFL locker room than someone like Sanders.