Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett is in the final year of his contract, and it couldn't have come at a better time. The Cowboys are currently atop the NFC East at 10-4, and will likely make the playoffs for the first time since 2009. Despite a lack of dialogue between Garrett and team owner Jerry Jones about a new contract, an extension is pretty much a formality at this point.
Jones resisted from making any guarantees, but did say that "it's very obvious that he is doing very well and his hard work is paying off."
Garrett became the head coach midway through the 2010 season. The Cowboys had finished 8-8 for three consecutive years coming into this season. But with a revamped offensive line and a power running game, Dallas is on the verge of continuing into the postseason. While Jones wouldn't call Garrett a "seasoned coach," he did note many of the positives he's seen.
"Not like Rod Marinelli or not like Monte Kiffin or not like those guys," Jones said. "That's just simply age and experience. But I will say this...he's had some of the adverse things in various situations happen to him over the last years between being the offensive coordinator of the Cowboys and the head coach. And I am confident that he's eons away from when he started, walking in here as a coordinator, and when he started as a head coach taking Wade Phillips' place.
"He's way far down the line. Seasoned? No, that's the good news. The good news is he's really just getting started."
Executive vice president Stephen Jones echoed similar sentiments during a radio interview earlier this week.
"Obviously, it's an improvement this year, and an improvement at a time when a lot of people didn't think we would improve," Stephen Jones said on The Ticket (1310 AM) in Dallas on Wednesday night. "They actually thought we might go backwards, and here we are at nine wins with three games to go. We've got a lot of work to do. But I really think Jason is the right guy for this job, and I know Jerry thinks the same thing. I certainly see Jason being a big part of our future."
Garrett, 48, is currently the 11th highest paid coach in the NFL with an annual compensation of roughly $5 million. He would surely expect to be bumped into the top ten should the Cowboys make the playoffs and ownership offer him a new deal.
