Training camps around the league are in full swing, the preseason schedule has officially begun and yet, somehow, the Dallas Cowboys are still no closer to reaching a new deal with their star pass rusher Micah Parsons. In fact, they haven't even been talking to him about a new deal. And now, with just over a month to go until the regular season begins, it sounds like the two-time first-team All-Pro is finally willing to say that enough is enough.
According to a bombshell report from The Athletic's Dianna Russini on Friday morning, the relationship between Parsons and the Cowboys "has deteriorated to the point where the star pass rusher is considering drastic measures, which could include a trade request or even a declaration that he is severing his relationship with the team."
Russini adds that the two sides "remain far apart" in contract talks, and that Parsons and the team are not currently negotiating — very much throwing into question whether a deal could get done before the Cowboys need Parsons to play in meaningful games this year. In the midst of all that, as the clock continues to tick and his team's relationship with its best and most important player grows increasingly perilous, Jerry Jones and his front office are mostly worried about ... making sure fans know that Parsons' agent, not the team, is the one to blame.
From Russini:
"Parsons negotiated directly with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones over multiple days in the spring, and the team believed it had a deal, multiple league sources said. When Parsons’ agent pushed back and attempted to negotiate further, the Cowboys declined to engage with him and told the pass rusher to honor the agreement he had made.
Now, the team is refusing to engage with Parsons’ agent at all, creating a tense standoff amid increasing friction."
Maybe there's some truth to this. Maybe the Cowboys have some reason to feel jerked around, having agreed to one thing with Parsons only to be told something else once his agent got in his ear. But given the fact that Jones and Co. allowed the situation to get to this point in the first place, it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt. And it's also hard to blame Parsons for finally just throwing up his hands and walking away.
Micah Parsons shouldn't let Jerry Jones' wounded pride hold his career hostage
Really, Parsons should have been locked up ages ago, long before the Pittsburgh Steelers and TJ Watt reset the edge-rusher market yet again. Jones can try to make Parsons' agent the new boogeyman all he wants, but the truth is that this is how Dallas has always tried to do business, even and especially with its best players. Their inflated sense of self-worth renders them incapable of believing that any player might really tell the Cowboys no, that eventually a deal will get done on Jones' timeline.
But Parsons doesn't appear willing to play by those rules, nor should he. He's entering the final year of his rookie deal, a deal that he's long since outperformed. It sounds like Jones and the Cowboys have given him zero reason to believe that a deal is forthcoming, so why would he stick around and potentially corner himself into playing out his fifth-year option, risking an injury that could affect his next contract?
At this point, everyone, Jones included, knows what Parsons is worth. He's going to top the deal Watt signed a few weeks ago and become the new highest-paid non-QB in the NFL, as he should. There shouldn't actually be all that much to negotiate here. The fact that this has dragged into August is exasperating, and Parsons has every right to tell the Cowboys that he doesn't feel like dealing with it anymore. This is his career and livelihood, after all, and if Jones is going to continue to focus on winning a futile PR war, he should start looking for a team that will take this a bit more seriously.