Stephen Jones 'Fully Expects' Marinelli to Return
Ian McCue - 8 hours ago
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones refuted a recent report from Pro Football Talk that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli leaving the Cowboys for the Buccaneers is essentially a done deal.
"We fully expect him to come back," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, via Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News. "It would certainly be disappointing if [he] didn't."
Marinelli has long-time ties to Tampa Bay coach Lovie Smith, who just completed his first season there.
Jones also said no one will be allowed to interview with another staff for the next three days unless it's for a head coaching gig. That gives the team a brief period to try to re-sign key members of the staff like Marinelli and offensive play-caller Scott Linehan.
Dallas' front office has also wasted no time trying to secure head coach Jason Garrett for the future. Per Jon Machota of The Morning News, Jones said the strategizing for a new deal began on Sunday night — that's right, hours after the season-ending loss to the Packers — and has been continued into Monday.
Speaking on the same radio station Monday morning, Garrett made it clear we wants to keep his office at Valley Ranch.
"This is a great organization," Garrett said, according to ESPN.com's Todd Archer. "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."