When entering contract negotiations, the goal is usually to keep things straightforward.
Yet, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones might have made things a bit more tangled.
Star pass rusher Micah Parsons is in the last year of his rookie deal, and Jones, with a massive new contract in mind, decided to make a pointed comment in his usual style.
“We’re not going to have him just because we signed him. He missed six games last year. Seriously,” Jones remarked.
Parsons, who managed to play through injuries but still racked up 12 sacks last season despite missing four games, has definitely made it clear he’s looking for a payday.
On the other hand, Jones appears reluctant to loosen the purse strings for reasons that, while somewhat sensible, also seem a bit odd.
“The contract is four or five years, okay? If you go out in the first few and do something, there’s a lot of water under the bridge,” he explained. “You can get seriously attacked by cars, so there’s a lot to see over the years that can make a big difference. Have you ever heard that the club is committed to players?”
Jones didn’t stop there—he also mentioned he made quarterback Dak Prescott the highest-paid player in the league with a four-year, $240 million deal last season.
Now, he seems to be bracing himself for a showdown with Parsons. Over the course of four years, Parsons has racked up 52.5 sacks in 63 games, won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, and been named an All-Pro in every season since. It seems odd to overlook someone who has made such an impact.
At 26, Parsons has surely caught wind of Jones’s remarks, and former star rusher JJ Watt has also chimed in on the situation.
“Whenever you can delve into star quarterback and star pass rush at the same time just before the start of the season, you need to take it,” Watt tweeted. “There’s nothing I’d like to fight for you more than hear how upset you are that they’ve been injured while fighting for you.”
Parsons continues to press on the matter of his contract, suggesting he definitely has some things to say, regardless of whether Jones wants to listen.
