When Bill Belichick fled to the college ranks in December, this season’s NFL coaching carousel seemingly was left without a figure who would loom over the search process. At least that was the case until Monday night.
That’s when news broke that Colorado coach Deion Sanders had been in touch with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who earlier in the day confirmed the team was parting ways with Mike McCarthy after five years. Sanders himself later confirmed the connection.
“To hear from Jerry Jones is truly delightful, and it’s intriguing,” Sanders told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday night. “I love Jerry and believe in Jerry. After you hang up and process it, and think about it, it’s intriguing. But I love Boulder and everything there is about our team, the coaches, our student body and the community.”
Even with no formal interview set, perhaps the biggest brands in football coaching and American team sports have now been linked to one another.
Sanders, 57, engineered rapid turnarounds both at Jackson State and Colorado. In his second season leading the Buffaloes, he posted a 9-4 mark while helping Travis Hunter win the Heisman Trophy. Between his impressive track record in the college ranks and Hall of Fame work as a cornerback for the Cowboys – including playing a key role in helping the franchise win its last Super Bowl title during the 1995 season – it’s easy to understand how the interest on Dallas’ part first materialized.
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But as Sanders well knows, not all coaching jobs are comparable to one another – least of all the ones that involve working for Jones, the owner, general manager and decision-maker standing over all matters related to “America’s Team.” And even with the two sides expected to continue discussions, several roadblocks or even potential deal-breakers could be ahead.
Here are seven reasons that Sanders’ candidacy with the Cowboys might eventually fizzle out – with the caveat that both sides could prove this piece wrong in the coming weeks:
1. There’s no easy path for the Cowboys to land Shedeur Sanders
Though Deion Sanders has long signaled he’s more than content to remain in Boulder, he did recently acknowledge intrigue in one potential setup at the pro level.
“The only way I would consider (an NFL job) is to coach my sons,” Sanders said last week on “GMA3: What You Need to Know.”
Sanders emphasized that would mean both football-playing sons: Shedeur, the quarterback who claimed the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, and Shilo, a safety.
Jones certainly has been an advocate for folding family into one’s career – just watch his star turn during his “Landman” cameo for confirmation. And finding a way to secure Shilo shouldn’t be too much of a problem for any franchise interested in the Sanders family. But getting a shot at the former might be a dead end for Dallas.
Put aside the Dak Prescott matter for one minute – we’ll come back to it. The Cowboys are currently set to pick 12th in the first round of April’s NFL draft. Shedeur Sanders, meanwhile, is widely projected to be a top-three selection in a class short on surefire Day 1 signal-callers. To move up to either of the first two spots currently owned by the Tennessee Titans and Cleveland Browns, respectively, the Cowboys might have to give up something resembling what the Chicago Bears ceded two years ago. The package to get to No. 1 featured wide receiver DJ Moore, the No. 9 overall pick, an additional first-rounder (which would become the top pick in 2024) and two second-rounders.
That would be quite the ask in any interview, especially given that Jones couldn’t negotiate with other teams from a position of strength in any scenario in which he tried to move up. But that’s all likely a pipe dream, anyway, in part because of point No. 2.
2. Trading Dak Prescott is a non-starter
Jones is just over four months removed from making Prescott the highest-paid player in league history with a four-year, $240 million extension. Even after a trying 7-10 campaign in which Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury, moving on from the 2023 MVP runner-up and one of his personal favorites in order to embark on a costly pursuit of an unknown – albeit a talented one – would constitute a remarkable about-face for Jones.
It’s also entirely unviable.
Moving Prescott before June 1 would incur a dead cap hit of $103.2 million, according to Over The Cap, a figure that would be more 20% higher than the Denver Broncos’ record $85 million blow for releasing Russell Wilson.
There’s also the little matter of Prescott having a no-trade clause. That essentially means no dice in Dallas for a potential Shedeur and Deion pairing.
3. The personnel problem
Running into a wall in any potential push for Shedeur would be just one of the first of what likely would be many player-acquisition frustrations for Deion.
At Colorado, Sanders was able to rapidly reshape the team’s roster to his own liking through use of the transfer portal. In Dallas, he’d largely be saddled with holdovers from the McCarthy era, with Jones resisting all calls to give up his GM powers and annually refusing a wider reset. And with the Cowboys currently projected to be just above the cap threshold, according to Over The Cap, it’s a good bet that Jones will once again turn out his pockets in explaining why the team will yet again sit on the sidelines throughout most of the free agency action.
4. The financial elements might not add up for Jones
Securing Sanders would require Jones to pay an $8 million buyout to Colorado. The cost-conscious owner let his last two coaches’ contracts expire, so this additional fee might be hard for him to tolerate.
And any negotiation with Jones could prove difficult given how he has balked at dead money for coaches, including when speaking with USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell last summer about McCarthy’s lack of an extension last summer.
5. The experience factor
Maybe Jones is ready to take a leap of faith after his experience with McCarthy. But three of his last four hires have had NFL head-coaching experience, and the win-now mandate remains.
Like any college coach without previous experience leading a professional team, Sanders should be expected to have a learning curve if he makes the jump. Would Jones be able to tolerate that given the makeup of his veteran-laden team?
6. Assembling the right coaching staff could be tricky
Unlike Jim Harbaugh, Sanders can’t rely on past pro coaching connections and a robust existing staff to quickly assemble a group of pro-ready assistants. His most experienced aide for a potential transition would be offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, whose units ranked in the bottom third of the league in scoring during three of his last four pro years as head coach of the New York Giants and offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. Is he equipped to ignite an attack that lost its spark and needs to establish something beyond the connection between Prescott and CeeDee Lamb? While Sanders might be able to lock in some of McCarthy’s assistants to help make a transition easier for everyone, the CEO-style head coach might find it hard to surround himself with the proper coaching support, at least in Year 1.
7. The talks might be mutually beneficial even if they lead nowhere
To be fair, there’s ample reason for both parties to explore this opportunity. But the upside for Sanders and Jones doesn’t hinge entirely on a partnership coming to fruition.
Sanders, who in November said he has his “kickstand down” in Boulder, is seemingly due for a contract extension after outpacing expectations just two years into his five-year, $29.5 million deal. Talking over career options with the 82-year-old owner, who is free to spend as much of his estimated net worth of $16.6 billion on coaches as he likes, can’t hurt his cause.
Jones, meanwhile, has seized the spotlight in the middle of the NFL playoffs, with the Cowboys now set to dominate the sports discourse for the coming days.
Recall what he told ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler about her story on the Cowboys’ abundant fan tours.
“The fact that you and I are talking about an issue that seems, to you, controversial, is very much a part of the plan that will create interest,” Jones said, according to Kahler. “You will create a ton of interest.”
For the moment, at least, Jones and Sanders have done exactly that.
