For some reason, I thought McCarthy was deemed safe after the initial wave of firings. Guess not.
No, Jerry just hadn't come out and said he was fired yet and said he wanted to talk with McCarthy after the season was over, but that was mainly so McCarthy could tell Jerry that he wasn't coming back instead of vice versa. McCarthy's contract was up this year and there was no talk of a new contract last year. His entire staff was on the last year of their contract, so it was either have a good season or they were all gone and everyone knew it before the season even started, Jerry just wouldn't confirm that and like I said that was basically so that McCarthy could tell Jerry that he wasn't coming back rather than Jerry having to walk him out, like it matters. Basically the decision was made last year not to retain McCarthy past this year unless they made some noise in the playoffs and they didn't even sniff the playoffs.
Imagine if the Dolphins wouldn't have paid Tua before the season and let him play out his final year at Miami without a new contract. You think Tua is coming back after that? Nope. They had to pay him to have any shot at keeping him. Jerry didn't feel the same way about McCarthy.