The Cowboys are no strangers to lengthy negotiating periods with high-profile players, and this offseason has proven to be no exception. Micah Parsons is still a pending 2026 free agent with this year’s offseason program in the books. 
He and owner Jerry Jones spoke months ago and made considerable progress toward a final agreement. Nothing is in place now, though, and the two parties have not spoken for some time. Finances are always a key factor in extension talks, but the length of a deal is crucial as well. On the latter point, the Cowboys have often favored longer agreements and it appears that could be an issue with respect to Parsons.
Term length seems to be a sticking point between the Cowboys and the two-time All-Pro, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes (video link). Longer deals with the likes of Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence have demonstrated the team’s preference when it comes to big-ticket extensions. More recently, pacts for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb (both four years in length) illustrate how that approach may be shifting in the wake of player preferring more frequent opportunities to test the market.
At the age of 26 and with 52.5 sacks to his name, Parsons is an obvious candidate for a major raise over the course of several years. The four-time Pro Bowler intends to reset the EDGE market on his new deal, something which would require surpassing Myles Garrett‘s $40MM per year as things stand. Extensions for the likes of T.J. Watt, Aidan Hutchinson and Trey Hendrickson could move the bar even higher this summer, something which would add to the cost of waiting on the Cowboys’ part.
It is unclear what terms Dallas is prepared to offer in this case, along with the particulars Parsons is seeking. With a training camp hold-in looming, though, progress regarding not only financials but also contract structure will need to be made over the next few weeks.
The Cowboys like longer term contracts because they make it easier to restructure deals to make short term cap space for the next contract they dragged their feet on negotiating.
I’m curious what the numbers is. Some of the pending might make serious coin on their upcoming deals, making Parsons that more expensive. And I see no chance of this favoring the Cowboys.
More Jerry can keep those Millions in the Bank to collect interest the better…
He’s a businessman first and if u don’t believe there is a method to his madness ur crazy…
Every Huge Contract he drags to the last possible moment…gaining tons of millions of dollars of interest which is waaay more money then he would be costing himself because of waiting to get these contracts done at a timely matter…
Not so sure about your math there iceman. And that’s before you get to the salary cap factor.
So, Trey isn’t the only malcontent? Maybe the Bengals, Steelers and Cowboys can make a three way trade.