It's no secret that Micah Parsons needs an extension. The star Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman is entering his final year under contract, and the last thing this franchise can afford is to watch him dominate in another uniform. An extension is a no-brainer, but Terence Steele's contract complicates things.
Steele is entering the third year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal. For a high-end offensive tackle, this contract is more than fair. The problem, though, is that Steele is far from that. The fact that he's this overpaid makes it tougher to squeeze Parsons in.
Terence Steele's contract is hurting the Cowboys in more ways than one
At the time of the deal, Steele looked like a surefire star. Right now, though, he's anything but.
Not only did Steele appear in all 17 games the Cowboys played, but he didn't miss a single snap. While that's a great thing for an $82.5 million player, the fact of the matter is that he did not have a great year. He had a PFF grade of 67.0 ($), good for 47th among 140 offensive tackles. While Steele excelled in the running game, his 57.5 grade as a pass blocker ranked 90th out of those 140 tackles.
He did improve from a brutal 2023 campaign, but to put it plainly, the Cowboys are not giving him an average of around $16 million annually to be the 47th-best offensive tackle in the sport. That is a problem.
Dak Prescott is owed a ridiculous amount of money, but he's a franchise quarterback. CeeDee Lamb just signed a monstrous extension, but he's one of the three or five best wideouts in the sport. Trevon Diggs is in the middle of a $97 million contract, but he's a star cornerback when healthy. These players might be overpaid, but they're among the best at their position. With that in mind, Steele's contract looks like nothing but an albatross.
Can the Cowboys extend Parsons? Absolutely, and they should; right now. The problem, though, is that with Prescott, Lamb, Diggs, and Steele on massive extensions already, the Cowboys are cash-strapped. They went 7-10 this past season with Parsons' cap hit just over $5 million. How will they build a Super Bowl-caliber team with Parsons getting paid like the best defensive player in the sport?
It'd be a lot easier for the Cowboys to give Parsons an extension without Steele's money occupying a much larger percentage of their cap space than it should. Adding Parsons to the other long-term deals can and presumably will happen, but Steele's deal makes an extension that much more complicated to finalize.