The last time Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made a coaching change was in 2020. Following the Cowboys’ final game against the Commanders on December 29, Jason Garrett was let go a week later on January 5. Ironically, it is after another Commanders game that Jones faces a key decision with HC Mike McCarthy. After ending the season with a defeat, McCarthy sat down with Jones to discuss his future, and later the Chicago Bears requested permission to talk to the Super Bowl-winning coach.

Even though that request was turned down by Jones, his comments following the 23-19 defeat to Commanders on Sunday, drew attention. When asked if he would allow McCarthy, whose contract expires on January 14, to talk to other teams if he asks, Jones said he only wants to work with those who are willing to stay in Dallas. “Then, I would say go talk. I don’t want anybody here, that’s not healthy to have somebody around that wants to be someplace else,” Jones said. However, these comments have led to criticism of Jones, but NBA Charles Barkley was quick to jump to Jones’ defense.

During Thursday’s episode of The Steam Room on TNT, Barkley didn’t hold back. He zeroed in on analysts targeting Jones for saying that McCarthy is free to talk to teams if he wants to. “Y’all coming after Jerry Jones because he told Mike McCarthy he can look around. Y’all the same people that had Mike McCarthy fired and gave Deion  his job like six weeks ago.”

There has been intense speculation over the future of McCarthy. As the Cowboys struggled and stumbled toward the end of the season, there were growing calls for him to be replaced as the team’s HC. Deion Sanders, the head coach at Colorado Buffaloes, was linked with the role, despite his insistence to stay in Boulder and Jones’ public backing of McCarthy.

Y’all like, ‘Deion would be great with the Cowboys’ when the Cowboys were struggling. So man what is it? Why are y’all so full of it? And I’m not trying to offend anybody, I’m just saying the public got to be smarter and realize a lot of these guys on television just talk. Y‘all said Deion Sanders would be a perfect fit for the Cowboys. Y’all said it right? Deion said ‘I’m happy at Colorado.’ ‘No Deion come get this Mike McCarthy (job).’ Mike McCarthy actually had the job.”

Barkley implied that it was disrespectful of analysts to talk about McCarthy’s future when he was still in the role and coaching the Cowboys week in and week out.

The Cowboys had gone three seasons with an identical 12-5 record, but injuries to key players such as Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb hampered their progress this term. Moreover, the lack of investment by the $16.7 million worth Cowboys owner in building a competitive roster didn’t help either. Jones acknowledged that this is a reason why McCarthy may not have been able to replicate the form of previous seasons. Hence, it is easy to understand why Jones admires the job done by him.

“Mike’s one of the best coaches that I think there is. He was made to coach here. He’s done absolutely nothing to diminish my opinion of him as a coach,” he said after the Cowboys finished their season with a 7-10 record. Jones turned down the Bears’ request to talk to McCarthy suggests that there might be an interest in retaining him. But Jones won’t have that authority once his contract expires and McCarthy will be free to negotiate with any team he wants.

So far, the HC, who has a 49-35 record in Dallas, has shown interest in staying in his current role. “Absolutely. I have a lot invested here, and the Cowboys have a lot invested in me,” he said when asked about whether he wants to return to the team next season. Still, with just one playoff win and a 29-year Super Bowl drought hanging over the Cowboys, the pressure is mounting on Jones to make a final decision.

Meanwhile, Barkley’s comments could have been in response to the rant by NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, who called out Jones for his comments about allowing McCarthy to talk to other teams.

Sharpe didn’t hold back in his criticism of Jones

Last December, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe didn’t hold back on his assessment of Jerry Jones was running things at Cowboys. He boldly claimed on Nightcap, “Jerry’s not gonna change. I think Jerry is more interested in money than he is in winning the Championship.”

Chad Johnson, another Nightcap co-host, chimed in on the narrative that Jones won’t hire a big-name coach who could steal his spotlight. Sharpe once again came out with a sharp message for Jones on ESPN’s First Take.

“Don’t do that Jerry. Either you want him to be Dallas head coach or you don’t. You don’t go, ‘I don’t want somebody to be here, that don’t want to be here.’ Nah. You want someone there that you can control, that you can pay them pennies on a dollar, incentivize their contract and not treat them like the head coach that they are, and not give them the responsibility that a head coach has at all other teams, except the Dallas Cowboys,” he said.

Sharpe also accused Jones of playing “too many games” and that after “three decades, you should have learned your lesson.” The time is running out for Jerry Jones to make a decision on McCarthy’s future with a deadline looming. Will McCarthy have his wish? Or will this waiting game end in the same way as it did for Jason Garrett five years ago?