Why Jones’ Contract Standoff With Parsons Feels Similar To Emmitt Smith’s

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is in something of a contract standoff with superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

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Jerry Jones continues to play the role of overbearing hard-liner with Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons. That’s been his way of dealing with superstars throughout his ownership tenure with the Cowboys.

Jones believes Parsons has given him control of the negotiations based on a casual remark the linebacker made earlier in the offseason.

Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer would certainly like to have Parsons on the field when the Cowboys open the season against the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles a week from Thursday (Sept. 4).

Parsons wants a new contract with the Cowboys that would allow him to be paid among the top defensive players in the league. During a late-season conversation with Jones about the subject of leadership on the team, Parsons made an offhand remark that made the owner’s day. “I don’t need $40 million,” Parsons said.

Jones started grinning like a Cheshire cat — at least inwardly — because he took this as Parsons’ formal stance in his contract negotiations. Even though Parsons has an agent who is registered with the NFL, the Cowboys owner says he has negotiated with his linebacker/defensive end and that he doesn’t have to go above the figure that Parsons mentioned.

That’s the Jones story and he’s sticking to it. He made an appearance with Stephen A. Smith and other media outlets last week and made his comparison of the Parsons contract talks with a child going to both “Momma and Daddy” to get what he wants.

Parsons wants none of it and he has an agent in David Mulugheta who represents him in his contract negotiations. Jones has refused to engage Parsons’ agent, saying the boundaries have already been set and that there’s no need to involve anyone else.

These appear to be strong-arm tactics by the Cowboys owner, and he has used them for generations against multiple players, including Emmitt Smith, Dez Bryant and CeeDee Lamb. Smith held out prior to the 1993 season and missed the Cowboys’ first two games of the season before Jones capitulated and gave him a four-year, $13.6 million contract that made him the highest-paid running back in the league at that time.

The negotiations with Bryant and Lamb were not as tense, but delaying those deals ended up costing the Cowboys more money than if he had signed them a year earlier.

NFLPA Could Get Involved On Behalf Of Parsons

Jones does not look at Parsons’ agent as the player’s representative. Instead, he sees him as nothing more than an interested third party who has no business in the negotiation process.

This is where the NFLPA could stand up for Parsons and file a grievance against Jones. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA upholds the right of a certified player agent to negotiate on behalf of his client. Jones is refusing to let this happen, so it appears that Parsons and the NFLPA would have an excellent chance of winning this argument.

The other angle is that the league could step in and tell Jones to negotiate with Mulugheta. The directive would come from commissioner Roger Goodell, and it seems quite unlikely that he would engage Jones in that manner. Jones is almost certainly the most powerful and influential owner in the sport, and he would not take kindly to Goodell telling him that he is in the wrong and must open the process in order to let the negotiations go forward.

Parsons has been at the Cowboys’ training camp throughout the process. He has been to meetings and he has had discussions with first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Parsons has not been taking part in practice even though he is medically cleared to participate following an MRI on his back.

Nevertheless, Schottenheimer believes Parsons will be in the lineup for the Cowboys in the season opener. He thinks the Cowboys’ most dangerous pass rusher can be effective even if he needs time to ramp up once he comes to an agreement on a new contract.

“The business side of it always works out,” Schottenheimer said. “One way or the other, the business side always works out.”

Perhaps, but it would seem to be a rather naïve belief when Jones is negotiating with one of his star players.