The Cowboys’ pattern of delaying big-ticket extensions is on display through the Micah Parsons talks, and the sides are not believed to be progressing. These negotiations also may not be animosity-free.
While Dallas took considerable heat for waiting on the CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott extensions — the latter not coming to pass until hours before the team’s opener — ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter views the Parsons talks as different in terms of hard feelings. Neither side is happy right now, to the point the veteran reporter noted during a Pat McAfee Show appearance these negotiations have slid backward.
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No conversations are ongoing, according to Schefter. That was not the case in the spring, when talks were at least unfolding. The Cowboys are not happy talks have gone sideways, while Schefter adds Parsons feels like this deal should be done. Parsons had long hoped for a resolution by training camp.
This report comes after a strange Stephen Jones comment that followed chants of “Pay Micah” at Cowboys camp. The Cowboys executive VP said (via The Athletic’s Jon Machota) the team wants to pay Parsons, but “he’s gotta want to be paid.”
Jones’ offering comes after Parsons fired multiple salvos at ownership’s penchant for delaying bigtime extensions. Parsons said his price would go up the longer these negotiations took, and the market has seen a near-full-on reset between Maxx Crosby‘s March extension and T.J. Watt‘s deal earlier this month. In between, Myles Garrett and Danielle Hunter cashed in. The EDGE ceiling has climbed from Nick Bosa‘s $34MM-AAV deal to Watt’s $41MM number over the past five months. While Trey Hendrickson‘s price may have changed due to the developments this offseason, Parsons has made no secret of the fact his has. Parsons said this month ownership was complicating these negotiations.
The Cowboys, of course, do not have a traditional GM. Jerry Jones has held that title since buying the team in 1989. This has caused headline avalanches, and the veteran owner said he has no plans of stepping down from that role anytime soon. Parsons and the Joneses have sparred about the deal this offseason, and the All-Pro looks to be engaging in a Jonathan Taylor-like de facto hold-in. Parsons is not practicing due to a back injury, but the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins reports he is not receiving on-field treatment like Trevon Diggs. This would appear to be a negotiating tactic, one Taylor used two summers ago as he completed a contentious negotiation.
Jerry Jones said he believed he and Parsons had deal parameters in place; Parsons confirmed that in June. The state of the union has since changed. Last week, Jones also reaffirmed a hesitancy in talking to agents, providing another complication in Dallas’ latest high-profile talks. Cowboys senior director of salary cap/player contracts Adam Prasifka has spoken with Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta, per Watkins, who previously indicated no deal is close.
These negotiations have reinforced the Cowboys’ timing issue, as Parsons is undoubtedly shooting for a deal north of where Watt’s talks settled; Parsons is nearly five years younger than the Steelers dynamo. Team Parsons is also shooting for a four-year deal, per Watkins. Dallas caved on its usual longer-term structure to complete the Prescott and Lamb deals, but we heard earlier this offseason term length posed a problem in these talks. The sides still have more than a month until Week 1, but the negotiation is off track currently.
Analysis shows that Parson is becoming more of a rookie with every word exchanged…
Being unwilling to sign an elite 25/26 year to a four year deal is patently absurd.
Yep. So is thinking he’s going to outmaneuver the agent who got Deshaun Watson his contract.
Jerruh will be Jerruh. I’m not saying Parsons is easy to deal with because he has a big perssonality. But you would think that Cowboys would have learned years ago that Jerry Jones should not be in charge of this stuff.
You say that like there is another option. JJ is the owner, so he dictates who is in charge of what. It is not like someone else is the owner, and is letting him be GM
Jones delegates most of the responsibilities around scouting and the draft and the team has generally done those things very well. He’s taken a lead role in big ticket contracts and coaching hires, which… not so much.
trade him
Jerry needs to realize that it is neither glamorous nor a privilege to play in Dallas, and adjust his negotiations accordingly. He still thinks premium players should take a discount to play for his media circus riddled mediocre team.
I don’t know anything about glamor but the Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise on the planet. They have the most followers on any social media platform that charts that stuff. The fact they have that level of support despite being mediocre is pretty impressive. Parsons is a fool if he thinks he can intimidate Jerry. He needs to put his ego in check or he’ll be another Dez Bryant.
Dez Bryant was past his prime and injured by the time he left Dallas. Parsons is elite and in his prime. He’s a fool if he thinks he can intimidate Jerry? He watched Jones have to cave to Dak and Lamb. He’ll have to cave to Parsons, too.
Parsons disappears in the biggest games.
You mean the games he is double and triple teamed? Those teams are smart enough to know DAL defense can’t do anything if Parsons is contained. DAL defense is devoid of anyone else in their front 7 making any impact. Their DBs have had good luck with TOs, but most have been from jumping routes because Parsons pressured the QB. The times he doesn’t get home, opposing teams pick apart the defense because the DBs aren’t great cover corners.
Everything is bigger in Texas… drama, egos, the gaps between offers…
I’d say this one is different from Dak and Lamb. I don’t recall either of them saying they were ok waiting. Dak knew he had all the leverage because of all the restructuring they kept doing to his contract. He kinda knew they weren’t going to take a huge dead cap hit AND let him walk for basically nothing with young playmakers still on the roster.
I was an advocate for them paying Parsons earlier, but JJ has been dragging his feet for whatever reason on most of the high profile contracts. However, Parsons did also mention a while back that he was ok waiting because his price would just go up, with the knowledge that there were other top tier players at his position that were about to get paid. Then most of those guys got extended, and it was probably at much higher amounts than he was even thinking. Now he’s all of a sudden wanting to get a deal done quickly, thinking they’ll just flip a switch and instantly get a deal done. It is also odd that they “had an agreement” in June, but are now going backwards. Only thing that has happened since then was Watt getting an extra million, which shouldn’t throw things off that much. So unless JJ had some weird language in their handshake agreement that Parsons agent then saw, that is the only thing I can think of that would send things spiraling. DAL still has the franchise tags they can use, until they inevitably overpay another player that could’ve been signed for less. They can do that or trade the guy that has basically been their defense. Unless they catch lightning in a bottle it won’t matter with the way the current team is constructed, who they have coaching, and most importantly who they have running the show as owner/GM.
Parsons i believe was willing to wait until training camp because who does it help if he sits “in” for it? If he doesnt get his extension he will not have the full ota and could have a sloppy platform year and the cowboys will potentially have a sloppy first few games from him. With this division that one or two games could be the difference of division leader / playoff. I think they have had a different division leader every year for what the last 5 or 6 years?
If you want to play GM, you have to talk to agents; that’s part of the gig. If Jerry doesn’t want to talk to the agents, hire a GM.
It’s a wonder Dallas has ever gotten a contract done.