If you want to talk about players bursting onto the scene in the NFL, look no further than Micah Parsons. While the constant podcasting will always result in eye rolls, the Dallas Cowboys edge rusher has always showed up to work with his lunch pail and his hard hat on. He has missed just four games in four seasons and became just the fourth player to rack up 10+ sacks in each of their first four years in the league.
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He’s a four-time Pro Bowler, a two-time First-Team All-Pro, a one-time Second-Team All-Pro, and the 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year. He’s definitely deserving of a mega-extension that would make him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. However, he wants a lot more than that.
Parsons doesn’t just want to be the highest-paid defender or the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history. He wants to be the first non-QB to get a $200 million contract. Quite a request. When NFL pundit Colin Cowherd learned of that report from Calvin Watkins at the Dallas Morning News, he was aghast at the possibility of Dallas putting nearly $600 million aside for just three players.
“He wants to have over a $200 million extension. I told you, I told you what I’d do… If they gave him that, they would have $576 million in three players.”
.@ColinCowherd and @jasonrmcintyre discuss reports that say Micah Parsons wants $200M from the Cowboys pic.twitter.com/FvMZS0zR04
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 31, 2025
Cowherd, while shocked by the number, sees the vision. He compared the Cowboys attempting to go extremely top-heavy to the Los Angeles Rams in the early 2020s and the San Francisco 49ers just a couple of years after that. The Rams won their ring in 2021 at Super Bowl 56. The 49ers, however, came up short in overtime of Super Bowl 58 and are now facing a hefty rebuild.
“You can do the top-heavy thing for like a year. The Rams did it for a year when they were paying Jalen Ramsey, Stafford, Aaron Donald, Andrew Whitworth. There was a time when the Rams had like 4-5 guys making a ton. But let me tell you something. You’ve gotta get that ring. If you don’t get that ring, you have to start hitting on draft picks, and the Cowboys have missed on too many draft picks.”
Parsons signing for $200 million would be a massive market reset for all non-QB contracts, but specifically for edge rushers. Five of the 11 biggest deals for edge rushers ever were signed this offseason, though none eclipsed Nick Bosa’s five-year, $170 million deal with the 49ers, which he signed in 2023.
Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, and Milton Williams all signed for over $100 million. However, while Garrett, the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, signed for less overall than Bosa, he is getting paid more per year ($40 million AAV) on his four-year, $160 million deal.
That $40 million yearly salary makes a Parsons deal for $200 million very realistic. All the Cowboys would need to do is add one more year to the contract Garrett received. And voila, you’ve got a five-year, $200 million pact for Parsons.
As an aside, the only pass-rusher among the top 13 in total contract value that is not signed through at least 2027 is T.J. Watt. With that in mind, the Pittsburgh Steelers would do well to sign Watt, whose contract is up next offseason, to an extension well before Micah Parsons and Dallas come to the table.
