Training camp has arrived and the Dallas Cowboys appear to have made little progress on a contract extension for defensive star Micah Parsons.
Parsons is heading into the final year of his rookie deal. He’s widely expected to ink an extension with the Cowboys that will make him the highest-paid defender in the league. That crown currently belongs to Pittsburgh Steelers pass-rusher T.J. Watt, who signed a three-year, $123 million extension earlier this month. Watt’s $41 million average per year tops Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
The contracts have dragged on and there has been some tension over Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta, being involved. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones — who also functions as the team’s general manager — said that he hasn’t spoken directly with Mulugheta about Parsons’ contract.
“I’ve talked with people that have talked to him. Let’s put it like that,” Jones said on Monday. “I don’t necessarily talk to these agents or attorneys. I do stuff everywhere and I don’t necessarily talk to the people who are hired to do certain things. I talk to the principals, 90% of the time.”
Jones also hinted at concerns over Parsons’ durability, noting the star defender’s injury history. Parsons missed four games last season due to an ankle issue.
“Just because we sign [Micah Parsons] doesn’t mean we’re going to have him,” Jones said. “He missed six games last year. Seriously.”
Jerry Jones Wants to Work Directly With Micah Parsons
While the sides have remained very civil during the contract talks, there have been many ebbs and flows to the negotiations. Jones previously said he didn’t know the name of Parsons’ agent.
“The agent is not a factor here, of something to worry about. And I don’t know his name,” Jones said in April. “And so my point is, I’m not trying to demean him in any way, but this isn’t about an agent. The agent doesn’t have one thing to do with what we’re doing when we get on the football field against a team. Micah does. To the degree I’m involved, I do. The people that have something to do with what we do going forward relative to our fans and football are me and the player, not the agent…”
After Jones’ statement, Parsons backed Mulugheta.
“David is the best and I will not be doing any deal without David Mulugheta involved!” Parsons wrote. “Like anyone with good sense I hired experts for a reason. There is no one I trust more when it comes to negotiating contracts than David! There will be no backdoors in this contract negotiation.”
Cowboys Not in Rush to Sign Micah Parsons: Report
While Parsons showed up for training camp on Monday, a new deal with the Cowboys doesn’t appear to be close. ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the two sides have yet to make meaningful progress in negotiations.
“Micah is going to go to camp. Micah is going to be there. Micah is going to do what Micah does. But I can tell you that, going into camp, the two sides were not very close to a deal. I don’t think the Dallas Cowboys have been overly-aggressive about getting a deal done. There have not been very many conversations,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I still think that everybody believes that at some point this deal is going to get done. But if we go back to last off-season as a road map — CeeDee Lamb got done in late in August. Dak Prescott got done on the opening day of the NFL season. We’ll see when they can get something done with Micah Parsons, who they want to get done, obviously, but it doesn’t sound like it’s on a fast-track right now.”
It remains to be seen whether Parsons will be practicing when training camp commences.
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