Getting it right with a first round draft pick is one of the most important things that an NFL team can do, and the Dallas Cowboys certainly scored in the 2021 draft. With the 12th overall selection they took edge rusher Micah Parsons out of Penn State.
Parsons, playing on a four-year, $17 million rookie contract, immediately became one the NFL’s premier pass rushers. He got to the opposing quarterback 13 times in his first year, as well as scoring 30 quarterback hits that did not result in sacks, and 20 other tackles for a loss of yardage.
Parsons Was First-Team All-Pro Two Years Straight
That performance was good enough to earn Parsons the NFL’s defensive rookie of the year award and a first-team All-Pro selection. He earned another first team All-Pro nod in his sophomore season, and with his dozen sacks in 2024 became only the second player in NFL history, since the sack became an official statistic in 1982, to sack the opposing quarterback at least 12 times in each of his first four seasons.
Parsons has been nothing but a team player, declaring that “I trust my owner, I trust my GM,” back in January. He even said he would be “100 percent” willing to take a pay cut to help the Cowboys obtain Cleveland Browns’ defensive end Miles Garrett.
Team Failed to Answer Contract Extension Request
But Parsons clearly believes that his feelings toward the Cowboys were not being reciprocated, when he approached Jerry Jones â the Cowboys owner and general manager with a reported personal net worth, according to Forbes, of $16.3 billion â and requested to negotiate a contract extension.
As late as February, however, there was nothing on the table for Parsons. Still, the linebacker expressed optimism that an extension deal could be completed.
“There’s been no progress. But I’m pretty confident something will happen,” he said at the time, as quoted by CBS Sports. “I really have a lot of respect for Jerry. We have great conversations all the time.”
Fast-forward to the start of training camp and there had still been no progress. Parsons was now out of patience. On Friday he took to his social media account to post a lengthy explanation of the situation as he saw it. But the bottom line was that now, he wanted out.
Jones Drops Blasé Message on Parsons
The Cowboys had already activated his fifth-year option for $24 million, but Parsons demanded a trade.
The trade demand sent shockwaves through Cowboys fandom. So on Saturday, Jones went public with his side of the story â and delivered a six-word message to the team’s fans about the Parsons trade demand â a message that seemed bizarre in its tone-deafness.
“Don’t lose any sleep over it,” Jones said.
‘I Enjoy Micah,’ Jones Says
The 82-year-old Cowboys owner who made his multi-billion dollar fortune in the oil business, and is currently the controlling shareholder in a publicly traded Texas oil company, Comstock Resources, appeared as unbothered over the prospect of losing Parsons as he advised Cowboys fans to be, in statements reported by ESPN.com.
“I enjoy Micah. But as always in any relationships there’s different moods at different times of your relationship,” Jones said. “That’s what it is.”
He also told reporters, “What y’all don’t know is what I offered him, and it’s a helluva lot more than you think I did. That’s what you don’t know.”
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