Black Monday hasn’t quite lived up to the billing, but several NFL teams have made decisions on their head coaches and general managers. Because that’s how it should be. The Dallas Cowboys, though, continue to twiddle their thumbs when it comes to Mike McCarthy.

Of course, that has been the expectation. Jerry Jones has dropped hints here and there that he’s already made a decision on McCarthy, but for whatever reason he refuses to make it public.

Since the regular-season ended, the Patriots, Colts, Dolphins and Giants announced the direction of their respective franchises. Not only that, but multiple teams have requested interviews for head coach openings. If the Cowboys are going to conduct a head coaching search, they are already behind the eight ball.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is the créme de la créme of this year’s candidates, but there’s little hope Jones would even consider him.

We know Jones wants his head coaches to check specific boxes. Well, one who seemingly would check most of them is now available after a huge NFL firing.

Jerry Jones will definitely have interest in Doug Pederson if Cowboys fire Mike McCarthy

The Jaguars have fired Doug Pederson, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. While the end of Pederson’s tenure in Jacksonville was a disaster, he had to navigate multiple injuries to franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Pederson also dug his own grave by promoting Press Taylor to offensive coordinator. Furthermore, general manager Trent Baalke, who somehow kept his job, fielded arguably the worst secondary in football. The Jags ranked bottom-five in total yards and total points and dead-last in net yards allowed per pass attempt.

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Jones is very familiar with Pederson from his time with the Eagles. He’s coached in the league for eight years, so he checks the all-important experience box.

Pederson also has been more successful than McCarthy in the playoffs. He won Super Bowl LII with Philly and is 5-3 overall in the playoffs. McCarthy, meanwhile, is just 11-11 in the postseason, including a 1-4 record with the Cowboys.

The big difference between McCarthy and Pederson, though, is regular season success. McCarthy is 174-112 in his career, while Pederson is 64-66 lifetime with only one season with double-digit wins. McCarthy has won at least 10 games 11 times. That includes three-straight 12-win seasons with Dallas from 2021-2023.

Their resumes are on opposite ends of the spectrum. McCarthy has the edge thanks to his Super Bowl triumph with the Packers, but Pederson will absolutely be high on Jones’ list if he moves on from McCarthy.

Who knows? With Mike Vrabel destined to take the Patriots’ job, Pederson might just sit atop Jones’ list.