Micah Parsons has finally asked for a trade after months of a standoff with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones over his contract situation. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, the defensive force understandably wants an extension and to be paid like one of the best in the sport. But Jones has handled negotiations poorly.
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In case you didn’t know, Jones and Parsons had a personal meeting back in March to discuss the impending contract. They reportedly left on good terms, but no deal was signed. In the following weeks, Parsons grew tired of the GM speaking directly to him rather than his agent. When his agent reached out to the team, they were met with silence.
That’s when things began to get tense. Parsons reported to training camp but didn’t practice. Jones then threw him and several other players under the bus during a press conference. The next day, Parsons held a Q&A with the media at camp, giving candid answers as he stood alongside cornerback Trevon Diggs.
Then came the breaking point for Cowboys fans. Parsons requested a trade via Twitter, voicing his frustrations in a respectful three-page post… despite the tense situation.
But of course, Jones had to add more fuel to the fire. Rather than attempting to apologize and defuse the situation, the 82-year-old came out and assured fans that Parsons’ request was simply a part of negotiations, with the headline message being to “not lose sleep” over it.
In response to the advice from Jones, Cowboys legend Michael Irvin went off on his former boss. He didn’t want to hear any of what the owner/GM was putting forth.
“I don’t want to hear, ‘Let’s not lose any sleep.’ We’re going to lose sleep. Stop fu*king around and get this done. We’re going to lose sleep about Micah,” Irvin said on his podcast.
Furthermore, the former wide receiver noted that Dallas fans are already frustrated and tired of being a laughingstock in sports.
“We must be the laughingstock of America. To lose Luka and now to be messing around with Micah like this. I don’t think any city in the history of sports can say that happened to them.”
Irvin was preaching to the choir. Jones has handled this negotiation (and many others like it) terribly. Getting Parsons to agree to a deal at this point would be a miracle. Telling the fanbase not to worry that perhaps their best defensive player in the 21st century wants out is a fool’s errand. They can see through the lies.
It started with the fanbase not being worried, but how can they be anything but by now? This has dragged on to the point that Parsons is literally asking to be on a different team. Last offseason, it was CeeDee Lamb. The year before, it was Dak Prescott. Ezekiel Elliott held out in 2019 before getting extended. Even Emmitt Smith in 1993 had issues with Jones over not receiving a new contract as a restricted free agent.
When will this behavior end? It’s not fair to the fans to watch their favorite players toyed with and played around with like fire. As much as Jones wants to say it’s all part of negotiating, rarely do teams wait this long to pay their star players. Those are supposed to be the no-brainer contracts.
Additionally, Jones’ approach to contracts extends to how he handles coaches. In 2014, he made Jason Garrett prove his worth and waited until the end of the season to extend his contract. Then last year, he did the same thing with Mike McCarthy, only for him to be canned by season’s end.
All in all, it’s a bit ridiculous how Jones continues to treat contract negotiations the same. Instead of getting out ahead of the market and paying players and coaches less than they need, he waits until the last possible moment. It’s not business-savvy whatsoever.
It’ll be interesting to see what ends up happening with Parsons. Jones is going to have to offer him a lot of money to make him want to stay now. Myles Garrett also requested a trade from the Cleveland Browns earlier this offseason, but a massive bag of money quelled his frustrations with the team. Let’s see if Parsons ends up with a similar deal or in an entirely new location.
