The Dallas Cowboys go to Philadelphia to play the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles in nine days. Star edge rusher Micah Parsons still hasn't practiced this summer. His contract dispute and standoff with Cowboys general manager and owner Jerry Jones have dominated headlines.
Brian Schottenheimer remains confident Parsons will be available for the Sept. 4 season opener against the Eagles. But the first-time head coach conceded Tuesday that Parsons could have a limited workload.
"At the end of the day, as soon as he can get out there, that's great but again there will be a ramp-up plan for him," Schottenheimer said, via ESPN.
"And when he lines up out there to play, do I think he would play 75 plays and every play? Probably not. I don't think that that's real. But I do think that he can be very disruptive like we all know."
Parsons averaged 53.4 defensive snaps per game last year, according to Pro Football Focus. He registered at least 44 snaps in all but one of the 13 games he played in, per PFF. The lone exception was a 37-snap outing against the Eagles in Week 10, his first game back from missing time with an ankle injury.
Parsons, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, has piled up 52.5 sacks, 256 total tackles, 112 quarterback hits and nine forced fumbles in 63 regular-season games over his first four seasons in the league. He came firing out of the blocks from Penn State, winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and starting his streak of 12-sack seasons that's still alive entering a pivotal 2025.
Now the 26-year-old in the final season of his rookie deal searching for a contract extension. Parsons' specific contract demands are unclear. That said, if a long-term deal gets done, it could be the highest-paying contract in league history for a non-quarterback.
Jones said he offered record-breaking money during what appears to have been a handshake deal with Parsons back in March. Since then, however, the high-water mark for defensive players has been reset, with Pittsburgh Steelers sack artist T.J. Watt earning $108 million guaranteed in his three-year, $123 million extension last month.
According to Jones, Parsons' agent David Mulugheta rejected the agreement Jones thought he had with Parsons.
While Jones has essentially made a press tour airing out his side of the story, Parsons has continued to show his dissatisfaction with the organization. Throughout August, Parsons has requested a trade, scrubbed his social media of any Cowboys mentions and flashed a "call me" gesture at a fan who told him to come to the Falcons before Friday's preseason finale in Arlington, during which Parsons briefly laid down on an athletic training table and closed his eyes.
Jones doesn't seem to budging, and neither does Parsons.
While Parsons' contract hangup is ongoing, fellow NFL stars Terry McLaurin and Trey Hendrickson have finally come to agreements with the Washington Commanders and Cincinnati Bengals, respectively.
It hasn't been that long since a defensive star has sat out a season opener because contractual issues. Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones was looking for a raise entering the 2023 season and even hinted he was willing to sit out until at least Week 8 for added leverage. He started to follow through on those stakes, watching a Week 1 loss to a soon-to-be breakout Lions team from a suite at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Mississippi State product finally put an end to the drama, which included millions of dollars of fines, when he agreed to a lucrative, one-year contract on Sept. 11 of that year. That short-term solution set the stage for the five-year, $95 million guaranteed deal he signed the following offseason.
The clock is ticking on Parson's ability to realistically make an impact against the Eagles, if he even does play a week and a half from now.
"Every day that he can get out there and get reps would be great," Schottenheimer said via ESPN, "but I do think very strongly that him being around has helped him. Doing some of the walk-throughs and things like that, it does help. There's communication, there's signals that come from the sideline, there's communication from player to player that he's getting all those things.
"But the best way to get better at football is to play football, so I would say as soon as possible would be the desired effect."
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