Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones stated that Micah Parsons’ agent told the team to “stick our contract up our a**” during ongoing contract negotiations. The dispute between Jones and Parsons escalated on Thursday as details emerged of tensions surrounding the linebacker’s future with the franchise.
Parsons has requested a trade from the Dallas Cowboys at the beginning of August, writing on social media, “I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys.” In response to recent developments, Parsons also removed any reference to the Cowboys from his X bio, instead listing “Penn state 2021” and “TBD,” suggesting he is not considering a new deal with the team.
Parsons, who is seeking a long-term extension aiming to be one of the highest-paid defensive players in the National Football League, has sat out all training camp practices this summer but has continued attending team meetings and walkthroughs. Jones said his latest offer would have made Parsons “the highest-paid guaranteed player other than a quarterback in the NFL.” He also accused agent David Mulugheta of undermining negotiations.
Jones stated Thursday: “We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees and everything. We were gonna send it over to the agent. The agent said, ‘Don’t bother because we’ve got all that to negotiate.’ Well, I’d already negotiated that. I’d already moved off my mark on several areas. The issue, very frankly, is we’ve had the negotiation in my mind. The agent is trying to get his nose in it and trying to come in there and improve off what we’ve already said.”
Cowboys first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer expressed confidence Wednesday that Parsons will play for their Week 1 game against the Philadelphia Eagles: “The business side of it is going to take care of itself (…) I think at the end of the day, we feel like Micah’s going to be out there when we line up against Philadelphia here in 15 days or whatever it is. I feel good about that, yeah.”
Parsons remains under contract with a fifth-year option worth $24 million in 2025. Over four seasons with Dallas, he has played 63 games with 256 tackles, 112 quarterback hits, 52.5 sacks, nine forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. Last season he recorded 12 sacks in 13 games.
The Cowboys are due to make roster cuts soon ahead of their opener against Philadelphia. Schottenheimer reiterated his optimism about Parsons’ participation: “I feel good that Micah’s going to be out there against the Philadelphia Eagles (…) All those things will play into things.”
