Sure sounds like Mike McCarthy's exit had less to do with Cowboys than we thought

The Mike McCarthy saga with the Dallas Cowboys has been confusing, to put it lightly. First, Jerry Jones blocked an interview request for the Chicago Bears to meet with McCarthy, hinting at the fact that he still wanted him in Dallas. Then, despite having exclusive negotiating rights with McCarthy, the Cowboys were unable to agree to terms with the long-time head coach before his contract officially expired on Tuesday.

McCarthy is a free agent, and his tenure in Dallas is officially over. While, on the surface, it appeared as if Jerry Jones had no idea what he was doing, McCarthy might be the one fully responsible for his Dallas exit.

In an appearance on the Ross Tucker Podcast, Andrew Brandt hints at McCarthy wanting out of Dallas just as much as Cowboys fans might've wanted him to depart.

"My sense is Mike had some leverage here. Whatever Jerry was talking about, Mike McCarthy... decided 'No, I've got some better options.' Maybe the Bears, maybe the Saints, maybe walk away, maybe do something else," Brandt said.

This sounds an awful lot like Jones wanted McCarthy back, but McCarthy wanted little to no part of being back.

Mike McCarthy might've wanted out of Dallas much as fans wanted him out

The question of whether Jones should've wanted McCarthy to stick around to begin with is one worth asking. In his five seasons with the Cowboys, McCarthy went 49-35 in the regular season but just 1-3 in the playoffs. This past season, the Cowboys went 7-10 and missed the playoffs entirely. Obviously, injuries played a role, and the team did show some fight down the stretch, but for a team with Super Bowl expectations, this past season was a major failure.

McCarthy's track record speaks for itself, but he has not been to or won a Super Bowl since 2010. He has two NFC Championship Game appearances in that stretch, with the last one coming back in 2016 with the Green Bay Packers. How many head coaches get to stick around for nearly a decade without a single Championship Game appearance? Especially when, in McCarthy's case, he's had elite quarterbacks under center virtually that entire time. It's hard to blame Cowboys fans who wanted him gone.

Whether Jones should have wanted him back or not can be debated, but by rejecting Chicago's interview request, he clearly did. So, with McCarthy departing anyway, it's only safe to assume the former Cowboys coach wanted a fresh start away from Jones and Co., especially with what Brandt had to say, and that's what he's going to get.

The Bears have a ton to offer McCarthy. Not only do they have Caleb Williams and a front office desperate to win right now, but they're in the NFC North, giving McCarthy an opportunity to get revenge against a Packers organization that fired him. The New Orleans Saints don't have as much going for them, but perhaps in a weaker NFC South with a veteran quarterback in Derek Carr, McCarthy sees some appeal there.

Whatever the reason is that McCarthy wanted out, whether it was about the external opportunities or just wanting to get away from Jones, his exit was clearly on his terms, and not Jones', contrary to initial popular belief.