Jerry Jones is attempting a new tactic as the Dallas Cowboys' stalemate with Micah Parsons drags on: going scorched earth on the All-Pro's agent.
The Cowboys owner displayed both sides of his public persona in a matter of hours on Thursday, first going on Fox News in the morning and praising Parsons as a player when asked how close he was to a deal in a dispute that has consumed the NFL preseason.
"Micah's a great player, not a good player," Jones said. "He knows more than anyone that it's a team thing, and, so, I know everybody's tired of hearing this, but you've got to put this puzzle together so that you can have some other people out there playing with Micah.
"That's the art of the deal. And that's what we're trying to get done, and we're trying to make this thing work ... We have all the appreciation in the world for what he can mean to the years ahead. We're proud to have him."
In the afternoon, however, Jones spoke with Cowboys legend Michael Irvin on his Youtube show and aired out seemingly every piece of dirty laundry he could find from how this whole thing has played out.
First, he confirmed that he has offered Parsons the most guaranteed money of any defensive player in NFL history. He also implied he is ready to hit Parsons with the franchise tag twice after his rookie contract runs out at the end of this season, stating Parsons has three more years in Dallas ahead of him:
"I have agreed to give more money than that's ever been given, in terms of guaranteed money, than anyone ever has, as far as a defensive player. I've done that. Now, I am the cat that writes the check, OK. Now, Micah's got three years with the Cowboys left. He's got three years.
"At some point, somebody has to have the say over the other. At some point, it has to be that way. My job is managing the check. Micah's got to do the playing."
The current high mark for guaranteed money for a defensive player is held by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt, who got $108 million guaranteed in his three-year, $123 million extension last month. However, Jones also went on to speak about an offer he personally made to Parsons in March, when the record would have been Nick Bosa's $88 million from the San Francisco 49ers.
[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season]
Jones placed the onus of the rift entirely on Parsons' agent David Mulugheta, whom he accused of having ulterior motives in negotiations:
"Where is the least important part of this whole equation we're talking about. What is the least incremental part of the whole equation? The attorney or the agent. He works for Micah. He's not the principal here, in any way. In any way. They're in here to make their percentage.
So many times in this industry, you've got another agenda going on with agents. A different agenda. They're playing a game. You tell me, are agents incentivized to not only get the most for that player, but they're trying to get, what? They're trying to get other players, because they've got an agenda for that player. That's their incentive, OK? Attorneys, exactly the very same way, and as you know, I do a lot of business."
While Parsons' camp has been mostly silent about the negotiations since he announced he was requesting a trade, Jones has spoken almost daily about the matter. One thing that has frequently come up is a meeting between Jones and Parsons in March, when they supposedly reached a handshake deal for an extension.
As Jones told it Thursday, Mulugheta rejected the agreement:
"Come over to the office and I'll show you exactly what we offered Micah. We've got it in the back, it's all written down and ready to go ... When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass.
"Micah and I talked, and then we were going to send it over to the agent. We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything. We were going to send it over to the agent, and the agent said, 'Don't bother, because we've got all that to negotiate.' Well, I had already negotiated. I had already moved off my mark on several areas. So the issue, very frankly, is we've had the negotiation in my mind and the agent's trying to get his nose in it, and come in there, and improve off the mark that we had already said."
Maybe this doesn't need to be said, but let's just be clear here. No owner in the NFL talks about these things like this in public, except for the guy who currently has a Netflix series out about his wheelings and dealings.
Essentially, Jones is complaining that he is being forced to negotiate with the person Parsons hired to negotiate on his behalf. It is a frequent move among owners to attempt to cut out the supposed middle men (agents, attorneys, executives) through a one-on-one meeting with players, but this is a case where the owner is also the team's lead negotiator. Whatever Parsons might have said in his meeting with Jones, he is perfectly within his rights to have Mulugheta review an agreement and act on his recommendation.
Mulugheta reportedly declined comment but confirmed he was aware of what Jones said when approached by the Dallas Morning News.
So this whole situation doesn't seem to be getting much better. On the bright side, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday that he feels good about the chances of star edge rusher Micah Parsons playing in Week 1.
However, Parsons has yet to practice with the team in training camp, not in Oxnard, California, where they spent nearly a month this summer, and not back at The Star.
At the moment, the Cowboys are set to pay Parsons $24 million this season, the fifth and final season on his rookie deal.
Parsons, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, immediately made a name for himself in the league, winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. In each of his first four seasons, he's recorded at least 12 sacks — even last year when he played only 13 games while dealing with an ankle injury.
The Penn State product has piled up 52.5 sacks, 256 total tackles, 112 quarterback hits and nine forced fumbles in 63 regular-season games.
Parsons is only 26 years old, and he's seen as one of the league's best defenders. He wants to be valued as such.
Even though Jones has signed linchpin players to delayed extensions before — most recently quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb — the longtime Cowboys owner doesn't appear to be any closer to inking Parsons to a new contract.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that "it sounds like at this point it's personal" and that "it sounds like each side is dug in."
Comments