Every NFL offseason seems to follow a similar pattern, and this year, Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons finds himself at the center of it.
The cycle goes like this: a team holds off on paying a star player, someone else at the same position signs a record-breaking deal, and suddenly, the waiting team is forced to pay even more if it had acted sooner.
Now, Parsons is speaking out about his stalled contract negotiations with the Cowboys and owner/general manager Jerry Jones.
Micah Parsons Let’s His Feelings Be Known Regarding New Deal
Longtime Cowboys beat writer Clarence Hill Jr. recently spoke with Parsons regarding his next possible contract.
On X, Hill Jr. posted the story with the caption, “Exclusive: Puzzled Micah Parsons says Dallas Cowboys are costing themselves more money by waiting to do deal – DLLS Sports.”
Exclusive: Puzzled Micah Parsons says Dallas Cowboys are costing themselves more money by waiting to do deal – DLLS Sports https://t.co/PZm2jWXhmq
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) June 13, 2025
In the story, as Brandon Loree of “Blogging The Boys” points out, Hill Jr. wrote, “According to Parsons, the deal that [TJ] Watt is seeking is more than what he and Jones talked about. And he said he has seen the number. Therefore, his deal is going to go up, which means the #Cowboys are going to be paying more.”
Of course, we don’t know what Watt has asked for from the Pittsburgh Steelers, but we do know that head coach Mike Tomlin is optimistic that a deal will get done and Watt will be ready to go once he returns to the team.
Jones has a history of waiting to pay players for no real reason. We saw it recently with quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and even going back to 1993 with running back Emmitt Smith.
With Smith, he actually missed the first two games of the season. He was seeking to become the highest-paid running back in the NFL. Then, after the Cowboys lost a couple of games, they signed him and made him the highest-paid running back in the NFL.
Not only could the price tag for Parsons go up after Watt, but it’s already gone up substantially after Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett signed a massive four-year, $160 million deal ($40 million annually) earlier this offseason.
In addition to Watt, there’s also Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who’s seeking a deal.
So, if the Cowboys don’t sign Parsons now, they could potentially see two more price increases should Hendrickson and Watt sign deals before him.
Parsons is heading into the final year of his rookie deal under the team’s fifth-year option.