Calvin Watkins explains McCarthy's Cowboys 'frustration', Dak contract hopes
Calvin Watkins over at the Dallas Morning News posted an article responding to the Mike McCarthy 'Fed Up' Cowboys report saying McCarthy is not quite fed up, but his relationship with execs is 'not perfect.' Watkins joins Shan & RJ to explain all of this and what McCarthy is actually fed up with in the video above.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Some very interesting notes here, here are the headlines I wrote down in the
00:19commercial break. Mike McCarthy, and this is in response to that Tyler Dunn, Mike
00:27McCarthy is fed up. Mike McCarthy isn't too worried about the Cowboys because he
00:31believes they will definitely be better in 2024. Is that delusional? He was a
00:37little bit irked by Joe Witt not being promoted to defensive coordinator, his
00:42guy, instead going to Dan Quinn in DC. Had a similar close relationship with Rob
00:50Davis who left here after some years. McCarthy was not happy with the timing
00:56of the Zeke signing. Not because they signed him, he wanted Zeke signed during
01:01the draft process so he didn't lose him to someone else. Is that delusional?
01:10Improvement, oh that Mike McCarthy may not view the Cowboys lack of moves as
01:16negatively as the rest of us because of moves like Cooks and Gilmore and he
01:21believes in draft and develop. So some very interesting nuggets here from
01:25Calvin Watkins, our guy from the Dallas Morning News on the DNM leasing hotline.
01:30Good morning Calvin, thanks for joining us. How are you man? I'm good, what's going
01:33on? You tell us, you're the one that's going and doing some digging here.
01:39Obviously this article that came out McCarthy fed up created headlines. What
01:44did you find out that kind of countered that? It really wasn't so much a counter,
01:51it was more about is he fed up with everything? And I think every coach in
01:59the league can probably complain about something, you know, with their owner or
02:05their general manager. And Mike is no different. Did he want Joe Wood as
02:12defensive coordinator over Mike before they venture down the path of Mike
02:17Zimmer? Yes. But he accepted it and said okay I love Mike Zimmer and he's cool.
02:23Did he, does he want Dak re-signed and C.D. Lamb re-signed? Of course he does. What
02:32coach who's coaching the Cowboys wouldn't want that? Right. Is he
02:37understanding that the salary cap has been a detriment to the Cowboys because
02:41they've paid so many veterans big money and they haven't really signed, you know,
02:47guys like Dak and C.D. sooner and that has affected the cap in future years so
02:54they could get some veterans? Yes. However, last year two of the most
02:58prominent players on their team they acquired by trade, right. Did he want Zeke
03:04Elliott signed a little bit quicker during the draft process? Yes. But they
03:10got it done. So there are little things that, that bother McCarthy. Does he want
03:16a contract extension? Well, hell yeah he does. He likes living here. His daughters are
03:21playing volleyball. You know, he lives in Allen. He's enjoying Texas better than
03:27what he thought. His wife loves it here. Yeah, who wouldn't want to secure security
03:33in their job? So yes, those are a lot of things that he wants. But is he fed up and
03:39he says, I hate Jerry and Steven, they're cheapskates. People I've talked to that is
03:45false. But like I said, every team and every coach in the league can complain about
03:52their owner. Calvin, the first thing that jumped out to me is the main reason he's
03:57not worried is his belief the Cowboys will improve in 2024. Now you know this
04:03covering this team as closely as you do. No fan basically would agree with that
04:08assessment and thought does Mike McCarthy really believe that they're better compared
04:12to last year for real? He might be right. But right now all of us think that's crazy.
04:20I would agree with you that that's crazy. I don't think this team is as good as it was
04:24last year, as it's currently constructed. I think everyone got better in the division.
04:31But the Cowboys, the biggest thing they did was get Eric Kendrick inside linebacker, you
04:36know, and they replaced the left tackle and replace the center with rookies in the draft.
04:41You got to expect Marjorie Smith, who was last year's first round pick to play better.
04:47Anything's better than what we saw last year. So I don't think this team is as good as it
04:53was last year. And but McCarthy believes he has to believe that we will be better next
05:00year. He thinks that would be even better this upcoming season. And that was like an
05:04MVP conversation. I think he finished second to Lamar Jackson. So I don't think I think
05:12I'm not saying McCarthy is crazy. But I'm like, Hey, I don't know what he's saying. But
05:18hey, you know, but he's the expert. I'm not. So yeah, we'll find out.