Jones Takes Hard Line In Talks With Superstar LB Micah Parsons

Micah Parsons is the Cowboys most impactful defensive player but he does not have a new contract with the team. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

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Jerry Jones is not about to give in to Micah Parsons and his agent during their current contract negotiations. It could mean that Parsons will miss multiple games with the Dallas Cowboys this season.

Parsons has seen the Cowboys owner negotiate huge contracts with quarterback Dak Prescott (four-year, $240 million) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million) about a year ago, and that meant that it was Parsons’ turn to get a new deal.

Perhaps Jones and agent David Mulugheta could have worked out a deal during the 2024 season, but Parsons was in no hurry and neither was Jones. Much of that had to do with the high ankle sprain that cost Parson four games last year.

The linebacker originally signed a four-year, $17 million contract after the former Penn State star was selected with the 12^th pick in the 2021 NFL draft. The Cowboys have exercised the team option for his fifth year and will pay him $24 million this season.

Jones wants to have Parsons on the team long-term and he knows that the linebacker is one of the most impactful defensive players in the NFL. Parsons had stated publicly last December that he wanted the Cowboys to add other good players on defense so that he was not going to get double- and triple-teamed on every play. That led him to take a magnanimous position, even if that was not his intent.

“I think I’m the best player in the world,” Parsons said. “I don’t throw numbers out there like that. I’ll see what they’re willing to give me. … I don’t need $40 million.”

Jones is not relinquishing his strong negotiating position

Jones and Parsons would meet in March to discuss the linebacker’s role on the team going forward. In addition to discussing Parsons’ leadership on the team, the two men also spoke about his contract.

Jones has taken a hard line since that meeting, saying the player and the team were close to a deal. He also said that Mulugheta was no longer a factor since he had engaged with “the principal” about the terms so there was no need to negotiate with the agent.

Jones, who has owned the team since buying the Cowboys from Bum Bright for $140 million in 1989, has seen his team’s value grow to $10.1 billion (per Forbes.com) . He is not about to be cowed or intimidate and he had similar dealings with Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders at key points in their careers.

The Cowboys owner spoke with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith on the network’s “Get Up” program, and he said he was not going to be influenced by the “mother-dad deal.”

Jones is not going to let Mulugheta reopen talks when he has already worked the parameters of a new contract with Parsons. By Jones’ explanation, the mother-dad deal is the way a child often deals with his parents.

“How many team have to you seen the little rascal, so clever, go in there and momma tells him you’re not going to get it. Then he goes to daddy who says you can have it. Then he goes back in and tells momma that daddy said he could have it.

“That’s been around since the beginning of time. I’m not going for it.”

Jones reiterated his position by saying that he and Parsons have already had serious negotiations, and the only way a deal will get done is if both he and Parsons are happy with the deal – and not Mulugheta.

Parsons asked for a trade from the Cowboys earlier this month, but Jones is not about to give in to his player’s request. He knows that if the Cowboys want to compete with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the upstart Washington Commanders in the NFC East, he needs his best defensive player on the field.

The Cowboys kick off their season a week from Thursday against the Eagles in Philadelphia as the home team raises its championship banner. The question is whether these frozen talks between the team and the player will warm up in time for Parsons to join his teammates at Lincoln Financial Field.