It's going to be a busy next few days for the Dallas Cowboys - beyond licking their wounds after this past weekend's devastating playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones have decided to give themselves a three-day window in which to re-sign their impending free agent coaching staff.
During the self-imposed three-day window, the Cowboys will not allow any member of the staff to interview elsewhere, save for potential head coaching positions.
"There is a three day period here where we will not grant anyone permission to talk to anyone unless it's to become a head coach,'' Stephen Jones said, according to David Moore of The Dallas Morning News. "We'll be trying to sign our guys. My priority is to sign our staff.''
Garrett has to be at the top of the list for the Cowboys. Not only did he finally lead the team to a winning record in the regular season, playoff berth and playoff game victory, he'd also be a hot commodity elsewhere if he hit the open market.
Garrett has said in the past that he'd prefer to return and Jones, per Moore, stated publicly in December that he "thought it was in the best interest of the team" for Garrett to remain in the fold.
Beyond the head coach though, things seem murky.
The contracts of offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, passing game coordinator Scott Linehan and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli are set to expire as well.
Eight teams have shown interest in Callahan, according to Moore, while the Oakland Raiders have expressed their desire to speak with Linehan.
Marinelli has strong ties to Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith and is expected to join his staff, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports.
"I don't want to comment on that,'' Jones said of potentially losing Marinelli. "Our goal is to keep everyone together.''
Garrett, assuming he stays in Dallas, doesn't want to lose his defensive coordinator either.
"I know Rod Marinelli has done a fantastic job for us since he's been here," Garrett said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, per ESPN. "He's done a great job coordinating our defense this year. We have every intention of keeping Rod Marinelli in his current role as defensive coordinator."
As for his own future, Garrett was adamant that he wants to remain the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
"This is a great organization," he said. "I think we really built a football team that we can be proud of, and there are some really good things ahead for this team."
