No updates have been given on Micah Parsons’ contract extension, but both he and the Dallas Cowboys have remained optimistic about it happening soon. All signs point to the star edge rusher landing a record-breaking figure close to $200 million, over $40 million per year. But some analysts, like Colin Cowherd, aren’t too excited about the deal because they don’t believe Parsons is as good as many think he is.
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So far in his young career, Parsons has hit the ground running. With a Pro Bowl selection in all four seasons, two First-Team All-Pro honors, and a Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, the Penn State product has been an undeniable force since arriving in the NFL. In total, he’s racked up 52.5 sacks in a short span.
However, Colin Cowherd thinks Parsons’ presence is debatable. He argues that many of the Cowboys star’s sacks have come against average or inferior opponents.
“He’ll make highlight plays, but he’ll beat really bad corners. I mean, he’s got 52.5 sacks in his career. 10.5 are against Washington. I think 5.5 are against Carolina, 4.5 are against the Giants. He’s got a big chunk of his sacks on three awful teams,” Cowherd said on an episode of The Herd.
All of the numbers the analyst lists are true; 20.5 of Parsons’ career sacks have come against the Commanders, Giants, and Panthers. But an easy rebuttal would be to point to his 5 career sacks against the Eagles, 3 against the Rams, and 3 against the Bucs. It’s not like he’s only bullying bad teams.
Yet it’s not just about that for Cowherd. He also believes that smart teams go young and cheap on defensive players unless they’re truly exceptional. And he doesn’t think Parsons fits that category.
“There’s a lot of great defensive players in this league, but I think the really smart organizations overwhelmingly stay young and cheap on defense. Chiefs and the Rams. Except, unless you have an elite defensive lineman. There are 5 currently, this is it,” Cowherd pointed out.
The five players on Colin’s list whom he would pay any amount of money for included Myles Garrett, Jared Verse, Maxx Crosby, Patrick Surtain II, and Chris Jones. A solid list, but also a bit disrespectful. Verse is a rookie who, like Parsons, won DROY, but Parsons’ track record in the NFL should make him the better player in most fans’ eyes. Cowherd doesn’t see it that way, however.
Lastly, Colin argued that Parsons has a poor postseason record, where he seemingly turns into a magician and disappears.
“If you look at Micah Parsons, in the regular season and the playoffs, he disappears in the playoffs. 4 games, 1 sack, no forced fumbles, not that many quarterback hits. Why? Because he’s a bully. He’s great against average, the small kids on the playground.”
There’s no way around the fact that it’s been a dreadful start to Parsons’ playoff career. But at the same time, there’s not much else to gameplan for on the Cowboys’ defense. Aaron Donald was completely x’d out of Super Bowl 53 because the Patriots double-teamed him every snap. Similar things happen to Parsons in the playoffs.
Still, it’s not a good enough excuse for Parsons. If you asked him, he’d probably say he needs to be better in big games. Let’s not forget that he’s still 26 years old. There’s still some growing and maturing that he needs to experience. It’ll, hopefully, come in time.
But right now, Cowherd is right to have his skepticism about handing Parsons a big contract. He has the stats and numbers to back it up, too. However, there’s still plenty of time for Parsons to turn things around and become an undeniable force in the league, even to his critics.
Regardless, the Cowboys are going to have to pay Parsons, because that’s the current market for elite defensive ends. If they don’t, another team would gladly step in.
