Rapoport: Bill Belichick, Cowboys’ Jerry Jones Have ‘Really Good’ Relationship

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If the Dallas Cowboys make a change at head coach, Bill Belichick may be a potential option due to his relationship with team owner Jerry Jones.

“The relationship between Jerry Jones and Bill Belichick is a really good one,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said in an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.

“I’m not saying anything’s gonna happen, because I really do think [Mike] McCarthy stays, but if something does happen, there’s a long history there with Belichick and Jerry Jones,” Rapoport added.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed on Jan. 6 that McCarthy will be “measured” by the Cowboys’ playoff success and an embarrassing loss could mean that “change could come to Dallas.”

After the Patriots announced on Thursday that Belichick and the team agreed to mutually part ways, speculation that the three-time Coach of the Year could head to Dallas has been rampant.

He’s been complimentary of Jones before, speaking kindly of him ahead of New England’s matchup with the Cowboys in Week 4.

“I have a ton of respect for Jerry and [director of player personnel Stephen Jones], and the way they run the organization down there,” Belichick said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “They’ve had decades of success. They were really the team of the ’90s with Jimmy [Johnson] and they’ve been good. They’ve been competitive every year, obviously more than competitive. They’ve had a lot of great players down there.”

While Jones hasn’t spoken publicly about Belichick in the aftermath of his recent departure from the Patriots, he detailed an encounter in the 1990s with the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach during a Nov. 2019 interview.

The two men ran into each other at a ski resort after Belichick was recently fired by the Cleveland Browns, telling the Cowboys owner to keep him in mind if there was a job opening with the team in the future. While Jones ultimately didn’t hire him, he revealed that he’s often reminisced about the brief conversation the two shared.

“I’ve thought about that many times,” said Jones, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. “You never know where you can find a great coach.”

If the Cowboys suffer another disappointing postseason defeat that results in a head coaching vacancy, Jones may decide not to make the same mistake twice.