Former Dallas Cowboy and Super Bowl champion Chris Canty did not hold back in ripping the team that drafted him. Canty blasted the Cowboys’ administration, specifically owner Jerry Jones and his son Stephen, for their inactivity in giving star pass rusher Micah Parsons a new contract, calling it an ‘embarrassment to the Jones family’.
Why Is Chris Canty So Critical of the Jones Family’s Contract Strategy?
On the latest episode of his ESPN radio show “Unsportsmanlike,” Canty pointed out how Parsons had been willing to start negotiating earlier, even opening talks last year. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Dallas. The expected annual salary for a player of Parsons’ caliber has spiked after successive market-setting deals by Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, and T.J. Watt. All three players signed contract extensions with their respective teams in the offseason.
The numbers tell the story of just how valuable Parsons has become. He has the fifth-most sacks since joining the league in 2021, behind Garrett, who is first with 60 sacks in that timeframe and Watt, who is second with 58.5. Parsons’ 52.5 sacks in his first four seasons in the league place him ahead of Crosby, who had 42.5 sacks during the same period.
“The fact that Micah said he was willing to do a deal last offseason is an embarrassment to the Jones family in terms of how they want to do business and trying to take advantage of the window they’ve created with the talent that they’ve assembled.”
“The fact that Micah said he was willing to do a deal last offseason is an embarrassment to the Jones family in terms of how they want to do business and trying to take advantage of the window they’ve created with the talent they’ve assembled.”@ChrisCanty99 pic.twitter.com/1HOrwRspNb
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio (@UnSportsESPN) July 21, 2025
Canty’s frustration runs deeper than just the Parsons situation. He’s seeing a pattern from the Cowboys’ front office that he believes is sabotaging their championship window. The team’s handling of contract negotiations has become a recurring theme that creates unnecessary drama and distraction.
He referenced the 2024-25 season as a prime example. Dallas waited until mere hours before the start of the season to give quarterback Dak Prescott a $60 million-a-year contract, and Canty believes these late decisions are hampering the team’s chances of competing for a championship.
“We talked about this last year at training camp for the Dallas Cowboys. When are you going to get CeeDee Lamb done? When are you going to get Dak Prescott done? Why would you want to undermine the last year of Mike McCarthy’s contract with a team that had won 12 games each of the last three seasons?
“And yet they allow these contract negotiations to be a distraction, and it ultimately ended up undermining whatever the Dallas Cowboys could have been last year to the tune of your team having double-digit losses.”
The criticism hits even harder when Canty looks ahead to the current season. He puts the responsibility squarely on owner and general manager Jerry Jones and his son and CEO, Stephen Jones, to figure this out. Otherwise, Canty believes this could derail the entire Cowboys season.
“I struggle to see the difference in this scenario with Micah Parsons and how it doesn’t potentially threaten to undermine year one with your new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer.”
How Does Canty’s Own Cowboys Experience Shape His Criticism?
Canty’s harsh words carry extra weight because he’s lived through the Cowboys’ organizational dysfunction firsthand. Despite playing all 16 games in each of his four seasons with the team after getting drafted in 2005, the Cowboys let him walk in free agency. That decision proved costly for Dallas when Canty moved to division rivals New York Giants and became part of the Super Bowl 46-winning team.
The contrast couldn’t be starker. While Canty celebrated a championship with the Giants, the Cowboys have remained stuck in neutral. Dallas hasn’t been in the NFC Championship game since 1996. The 29-year drought is the longest among NFC teams, a statistic that underscores Canty’s point about the franchise’s inability to capitalize on its talent.
