As star edge rushers around the league cash in on contract extensions, Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Micah Parsons is just trying to keep up with the Joneses.
But the Joneses, who own the Cowboys, have proven to be tough negotiators.
Cowboys ownership has heard the recent cries from fans to pay Parsons as the edge rusher voices his desire for an extension. However, the team appears to be committed to securing a deal on its terms.
‘We want to pay Micah too. He’s got to want to be paid,’ Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones told reporters at Cowboys training camp over the weekend.
Jones’ comment insinuates that the team has made an offer (or several) to Parsons this offseason. The edge rusher just hasn’t agreed to any of them yet.
Parsons is one of two star pass-rushers still embroiled in a contract standoff with his team – the other being Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals. Both players are looking to cash in on multiple successful seasons they’ve accumulated under their current contracts before entering the final year of those active deals.
Pressure has mounted on both Dallas and Cincinnati as other star edge rushers around the league got paid earlier this offseason: Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt all received massive extensions from their respective teams.
‘I will never understand it,’ Parsons said in a recent interview with WWE wrestler Mark Calaway, better known as The Undertaker. ‘We wanted to do the contract last year – then you go out there and perform again. You would think, ‘All right, we’ll get it done early, we know some guys are about to get re-paid.’ There’s Myles [Garrett], Maxx [Crosby] is going, so you would think, ‘Hey, let’s get ahead of that.’
‘You can’t want us to take less (now) because you’re the one that decided to wait.’
Though Hendrickson has held out of all Bengals offseason activities, Parsons has attended all mandatory team events so far.
Parsons is a four-time Pro Bowler and a two-time member of the All-Pro first team. He’s tallied 52.5 sacks and 256 tackles over his four-year NFL career, along with nine forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries.
The Penn State product has played in all but five games in his career: he sat out an inconsequential Week 18 game in his rookie season, and he missed four games last year with a high ankle sprain.
Parsons is set to play on a fifth-year option in 2025, the final season of the original rookie contract he signed in 2021.