And Jones put forth an intriguing twist on the saga by going out of his way to praise McCarthy after the Cowboys’ win over the Buccaneers on Sunday night, hours after they were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

With a key weapon like Micah Parsons back in the lineup, Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys have posted some impressive outings as the regular season winds down. The Cowboys have won four of their last five games and are hoping a strong finish could carry over into a better 2025.

The Cowboys won for the fourth time in their last five games on Sunday night and that left team owner Jerry Jones feeling giddy about the job being done by head coach Mike McCarthy even though the team has no chance to make the playoffs.