While speaking on Michael Irvin’s YouTube channel, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he believed the agreement he offered to Micah Parsons “would’ve made him the highest-paid guaranteed player other than a quarterback in the NFL.” Jones stated, “Nobody appreciates Micah Parsons more than the Cowboys or me. Nobody has ever offered him more money than I have to play football. Period.”
Jones attributed the stalled negotiations to Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta. “When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass. Just so you’re clear,” Jones said.
He noted that no new negotiations have taken place since. When Parsons publicly requested a trade on Aug. 1, he indicated that his meeting with Jones was about leadership, but according to Jones, contract discussions soon followed and could not proceed without Mulugheta’s involvement.
Jones explained that both parties had agreed on the length of the deal as well as guaranteed and total money amounts. He added, “I’ve agreed to give more money than has ever been given in terms of guaranteed money than anyone ever has as far as a defensive player (…). I’ve done that. Now, I am the cat that writes the check. Now Micah’s got three years with the Cowboys left. He’s got three years. At some point somebody has to have the say over the other. At some point it has to be that way (…) My job is managing the check, OK? Micah’s got to do the playing. Where’s the least important part of this whole equation that we’re talking about? … The attorney or the agent, OK? He works for Micah.”
During training camp in Oxnard, California, Jones referenced “guaranteeing somebody close to $200 million” while discussing Parsons’ potential contract numbers. Currently, Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns holds the record for highest guarantee for a non-quarterback at $123.5 million.
On Irvin’s YouTube channel, Jones also said: “We’ve got this deal resolved, in my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys. We’ve got it done, and if the agents want to finish up the details, which he should [do] and do all the paperwork, he can do that. And we’re ready to go, but as far as amount of money, years, guarantees, we’ve negotiated that.”
For now, Jones appears willing for Parsons to play this season on his fifth-year option worth $21.324 million and consider franchise tags later if needed. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer expressed confidence Parsons will be available for opening day against Philadelphia.
“We’ve really got three years to work this thing out,” Jones said regarding future negotiations with Parsons and his representation.(…) “It’s a basic contract. It’s there to go. I did that with Dak [Prescott]. And we couldn’t agree so Dak played his last year of his contract then we franchised him(…). So it’s exactly what happened with Dak and we moved forward and ultimately we got a contract and made Dak the highest-paid player in NFL (…). So precedent is handling it like Dak… If he doesn’t it’s very costly; it’s very costly for everybody,” said Jones.
