Jerry Jones has tried and failed to negotiate an extension with Micah Parsons. The Cowboys don't have a leg to stand on, in part because of contracts given out to pass rushers like Myles Garrett and TJ Watt. Parsons is far younger than both those players and just as talented. He is likely to win multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards in the near future, and thus deserves to be the highest-paid player in football at his position. That could mean he'll be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the game.
Preseason games should always be taken with a grain of salt, but it's more notable when a player or unit struggles than when they succeed. For the Cowboys, that reality was brutally obvious against the Los Angeles Rams. Dallas offered little-to-no pass rush against Los Angeles with Stetson Bennett IV at quarterback. Bennett IV is on the roster bubble himself for LA, and he diced up the Cowboys secondary like they were a caesar salad. That was thanks in large part to the lack of pass rush. Dallas had just one sack on the night.
Timing is everything for the Cowboys and Micah Parsons
Despite what Jerry Jones says, the Cowboys and Parsons should eventually come to an agreement. Yet, joint practices and preseason games can help either side in negotiations. Had the Cowboys sacked the Rams, say, four-to-five times this weekend, Jones could have taken that to the negotiating table. When the Cowboys failed to apply pressure on a third-string quarterback who hasn't shown much promise since he was in Athens, Georgia, Parsons gets to use that against the team.
I should also make it clear that Parsons himself is not using the performance of his teammates as leverage against his own team. That is up to Parsons agent, who is surely looking for every possible angle to make the Cowboys cave. Micah himself has been around Cowboys camp to root on his teammates and help with personnel decisions. Let's call it a hold-in.
When will the Cowboys finally pay Micah Parsons?
The Cowboys best chance to get a deal done with Parsons is likely a bit later this preseason. Rest assured, Micah is working out privately and will be ready for the season regardless of if he is spending time with his teammates. Parsons is a professional. He doesn't need preseason games to ramp up for the season – this guy has been ready.
Parsons requested a trade from Dallas, yes. That's still the Cowboys reality, and they must mend fences before coming to an agreement. That being said, it would be far from the first time this offseason that a star player requested a trade and eventually signed a lucrative extension with that same team. It's a negotiating tactic, people. Even Dak Prescott made it clear that Parsons isn't going anywhere just a few days ago.
“No, not necessarily,” Prescott said when asked about Parsons leaving Dallas. “I think if I wouldn’t have been in his shoes, and watched other guys be in his shoes and get rewarded, maybe. But I’ve got faith in the Joneses and the team as I do in Micah and his team. Eleven is a Cowboy.”
Parsons is smart to use every tactic at his disposal to get more money, especially at his age. Dallas' first preseason game only helped his case.