The Cowboys’ season is over, and now the question on everyone’s minds is whether or not they’ll extend the contract of Mike McCarthy, which is set to expire on Tuesday.

They seemingly tipped their hand by denying the Bears’ request to interview McCarthy this week, but no decisions have been formally made.

As for the coach himself, he spent the early portion of this week handling exit interviews with players. One anonymous player stopped long enough on his way out to offer some nuggets of wisdom to NFL insider Jane Slater:

“I only think it’s fair if he gets one more shot but more on his terms from the standpoint of really being able to run it how he wants.

Whoever else you go with there’s going to be an ‘unknown’ but he did build something pretty good over the last 5 years with one hand behind his back because it’s not easy being a head coach here but it’s worth it because it’s the number one brand in sports.”

This is not exactly news, as many people on the outside looking in believed the Cowboys didn’t do enough to help McCarthy achieve success this season, but it’s striking to hear that players feel the same way. We also heard Dak Prescott use the phrase “on his terms” earlier in the year when he first vouched for McCarthy to return.

“I believe in him wholeheartedly,” Prescott told Yahoo! Sports’ Jori Epstein on Tuesday. “I don’t want to necessarily get into the nuts and the screws of it all obviously, but I think he definitely deserves a chance — another contract and a chance to coach this team amongst more influence. ‘On his terms’ may be a good way to say it.

McCarthy downplayed the comments, insisting that Jerry Jones gives him plenty of influence, but it’s not hard to see different instances over the past five years of McCarthy not having total control over the on-field product.

The initial handling of Jaylon Smith, the trade of Amari Cooper, and the decision to bring back Ezekiel Elliott this season all illustrate the great influence that Jones has over the organization.

That said, McCarthy has been able to get some wins here and there as well.

Taking over play-calling from Kellen Moore comes to mind, as does the Cowboys’ massive overhaul of their analytics department ahead of the 2023 season, something that had been a priority for McCarthy since he arrived.

Another thing that this anonymous player told Slater, which hints at one major problem in the organization, had to do with the training staff and needing to hire more people there:

“More help. I mean like more bodies. Most places got so many hands on deck to cater to guys. Britt (Brown) is awesome and cares a lot but he only has a couple of guys to help.

Same with Harold (Nash) he has the respect and love of the locker room but having another person or two to focus solely on recovery managing, etc. so players will feel more taken care of and the staff can focus on building the performance program more.”

Slater said that the player acknowledged that such an expansion would cost more money, but that he and other players see value in paying that cost to ensure the team has the necessary resources for players.

According to the team site, the Cowboys only have three strength and conditioning coaches: Harold Nash, as well as two assistants in Kendall Smith and Cedric Smith.

As for the medical side of things, Jim Maurer is the head athletic trainer and Britt Brown is the associate athletic trainer and head of rehabilitation.

There are only two other assistant athletic trainers – Greg Gaither and Hanson Yang – as well as a director of sports performance, Scott Sehnert.

McCarthy has developed a reputation in Dallas for being overly cautious with injury management, though this might be a result of the limited dedicated staffs more than anything.

In fact, McCarthy has now finished four of his five seasons with the Cowboys with at least 11 players on the injured reserve. The one exception was 2023, which saw “just” nine players on the injured reserve at season’s end.

Perhaps the expansion of the player training department is a key focus for McCarthy in determining whether or not he returns as coach next year. Perhaps there are other factors that players are referring to when using the phrase “on his terms.”

Either way, it seems there is a belief among the players that McCarthy has yet to receive a fair shot as the Cowboys head coach, though many would like to see him get one.