The Dallas Cowboys and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore decided to mutually part ways as the season ended, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported on Sunday night.
Moore is expected to be heavily pursued by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their vacant offensive coordinator position. Per Pelissero, he has also agreed to speak with the Los Angeles Chargers for the same position.
Both the Buccaneers (Byron Leftwich) and the Chargers (Joe Lombardi) fired their respective offensive coordinators following a loss in the Wild Card Round. While there’s uncertainty about Tampa Bay’s quarterback position the next season, Moore would have the opportunity to work with Justin Herbert if he’s hired by Los Angeles.
One of the brightest young offensive minds in the league, Moore’s firing comes as somewhat of a surprise, as he led one of the NFL’s best offenses for the previous two years. He was touted as a possible head coach last season, but Dallas’ offensive decline did not help his case.
He’s 34 years old and was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2019 to 2022. He also worked as the quarterback coach for the team in 2018 and was an NFL quarterback from 2012 to 2017, playing for Dallas and the Detroit Lions.
While this might look like a firing at first glance, there’s a feeling that head coach Mike McCarthy wanted too much to do with Moore’s game planning, which would explain why mutually parting ways is a likely thing.
Who’s going to be the offensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys?
It’s not clear if there’s going to be an offensive coordinator job in 2023, as news broke that Mike McCarthy will be the team’s play-caller next season. Currently, there’s no information if McCarthy will be both the team’s head coach and offensive coordinator or if someone else will be hired for the job.
Having McCarthy as a play-caller should be a frightening sight for any Cowboys fan, as he last did so in 2018 with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, and that offense was extremely uninspiring. He was fired midway through the season after more than a decade of coaching the team.
Dallas fans should hope that, after four years away from calling plays, McCarthy has some fresh ideas to improve the Cowboys’ offense. It’s going to be difficult to be an upgrade over Kellen Moore, though.
