There are celebrations in the streets of Pittsburgh after the Steelers re-signed their beloved best player, edge rusher T.J. Watt. Those celebrations were matched by groans across the country in Big D, however. Watt’s record-setting three-year, $123 million deal makes him the highest-paid non-QB ever. And that has just as many implications for the Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons as it does for the fellas in the Steel City.
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Watt was the third elite pass-rusher to sign a mega extension this season. Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby came before, and seemingly every time one of them signs, they make sure they are getting paid more than the guy who signed before them. That’s why Watt signed for $41 million a year after Garrett set the record with $40 million.
This basically means that because Jerry Jones and the Cowboys have dragged their feet on a Parsons extension, it’s now going to cost them over five million more per year. And yet, the Watt deal doesn’t seem to have pushed Jones to get it done. If his recent comments are anything to go by, it seems to have only hardened his stance against Parsons and his team.
“Just because we sign him, doesn’t mean we’re gonna have him. He was hurt [in] six games last year. Seriously,” Jones said while addressing the impending Parsons extension.
“I remember signing a player for the highest-paid at the position in the league, and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year. Dak Prescott. So there’s a lot of things you can think about, just as the player does, when you’re thinking about committing and guaranteeing money.”
#Cowboys owner Jerry Jones randomly takes a shot at Micah Parsons, saying even if they sign him, it doesn’t mean they’ll have him, because he was hurt for 6 games last year (fact check: he only missed 4).
He then also says they made Dak Prescott the richest player in football —… pic.twitter.com/g6T8FnEEOX
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 21, 2025
And this comes despite the fact that the edge rusher was a full participant on the first day of training camp on Monday. The player is trying to show good faith with the organization, while the owner is coming after him for his health. It’s also worth noting that Parsons only missed four games last year and still had 12.0 sacks and a Pro Bowl. As Chris Long says, that’s not how a player like Parsons should be treated.
“You’re signing the rights for your talents away for a period of four or five years in the midst of a finite window of earning, and experiencing the joys of playing pro football, and you’re going to sign with the Cowboys?” Long asked rhetorically on his podcast, Green Light.
“A team that hasn’t been in the NFC Championship in almost 30 years? You talk about considerations… This isn’t how you treat your best player, at all,” he added.
At this point, it seems Parsons is more eager for a deal than Jones. Some are even suggesting trade winds might be blowing, but we’re of the mind that this deal gets done with the Cowboys. How many weeks, days, or perhaps hours before they kick off the 2025 season is anyone’s guess, however.
