Micah Parsons is looking for a big, fat new deal this offseason. But he hasn’t gotten it yet. And the longer the contract negotiations drag on, the more scrutiny the Cowboys will face. Still, there’s no debate about whether Parsons deserves it.
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Parsons is one of just four players ever to record 10+ sacks in each of their first four years in the league. His 52.5 sacks rank fifth during that span, as do his 112 QB hits and 63 TFLs. Parsons isn’t just the best player on the Dallas Cowboys defense; he has also become a leader within the group. That’s why getting his contract done is so important — they’ll want their leader at organized team activities during the offseason.
That said, players looking to get a new contract will often hold out of OTAs and training camp to put pressure on their team. But Parsons doesn’t belong in that group. While he hasn’t been at every recent session, he was present for OTAs in April.
It’s also important to note that these OTAs are voluntary. And, as CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell explained, what Parsons is doing isn’t exactly a holdout.
“To be clear, Micah Parsons is not holding out. He did show up to the first OTA practice on May 19 and had lunch with head coach Brian Schottenheimer that day. I’ve been at OTAs every media access they’ve allowed. Tuesday, the second OTA last week, he was not there, but he’s been watching film and keeping up with the coaches. I was there yesterday; he was not present again.” Podell said.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer seemed relatively unbothered by Parsons’ absence from OTAs this past week. He said he hasn’t spoken to the linebacker all week, but that they did have lunch the week before, as Podell reported.
Parsons, for his part, has been clear about his intentions: he wants to be there. He talked about how important these dog days of summer are for creating camaraderie and chemistry with his new teammates.
“There’s going to be rookies, there’s going to be free agents — guys that come here — you don’t know who’s going to be there, so there’s a chemistry part and people know what you can do, but people also got to see it from a leader aspect. So I still gotta be there for that part.”
It seems like he’ll have to make a choice soon, however. Owner Jerry Jones recently said he hadn’t spoken to Parsons or his reps for over a month, which means a new deal is certainly not imminent.
A deal may not come until July, when the pressure of impending training camp forces both sides to the table. Parsons really wants to be in the Big D, especially considering Dallas is on its third different defensive coordinator in as many years, but he did say that he hopes he doesn’t have to hold out, which suggests he will if he has to.
Why the Cowboys don’t want to get this done earlier is a mystery. Fellow edge T.J. Watt is in a similar situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers right now. Recent history would suggest that whichever of Watt and Parsons signs later will get the more lucrative deal, as both will want to be the highest-paid defender in NFL history.
That distinction is currently held by the Browns’ Myles Garrett. Earlier this offseason, he signed a four-year, $160 million deal. While his contract’s total value didn’t eclipse Nick Bosa’s $170 million pact, Garrett’s $40 million per year salary did set a new record for defenders.
Dallas has been known to sign their players to slightly longer deals, so if they can get this done before Watt and the Steelers, we’re probably looking at a five-year deal worth just north of $200 for Parsons.
