A contract standoff involving Jerry Jones is nothing new. It’s part of the Dallas Cowboys soap opera. Jones loves drama, openly embraces the ability to exist in ambiguity, and loves the attention he can draw to the Cowboys.
Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb went through it, and things worked out better than fine for them. They dealt with the public drama, but they got contracts that were more valuable than those they had signed early in the offseason.
However, what’s happening with Micah Parsons feels a lot different.
Stephen A. Smith Sends Message to Jerry Jones Over Micah Parsons
Stephen A. Smith appeared on “First Take” on Tuesday morning and agreed with Adam Schefter that Micah Parsons will not finish his career with the Dallas Cowboys.
“Why are you acting like you’re playing fair when you were negotiating with a 26-year-old football player?” Smith said. “That’s flagrant abuse of a player. You can’t do that. He has a representative. His name is David Mulugheta. That brother is considered one of the best agents in the world, and you haven’t been on the phone with him? That is inexcusable.”
.@stephenasmith agrees with @AdamSchefter that Micah Parsons won’t finish his career in Dallas 👀 pic.twitter.com/KVZDqpvw6r
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 19, 2025
Smith then predicted what the coming time might hold for the Cowboys:
“I think that Micah Parsons could end up being gone because of the stance that Jerry Jones is taking, and at this point, I don’t think Micah Parsons would even mind. He wants to go where he wants to go. But I don’t think that he’s fixated on remaining in Dallas. After all, he did ask to be traded, and I think he means it.”
Compared to past negotiations Jones has endured, this one feels more personal. This is mainly because Jones has steadfastly refused to negotiate with Parsons’ agent, Mulugheta.
Emmitt Smith famously held out, but his agent was involved. The same was true for Prescott and Lamb. However, in this case, Jones continues to rely on his private and casual conversations with Parsons, in which Jones claims they discussed contract numbers and had a handshake agreement.
Parsons feels differently and wants Jones to negotiate with his representatives.
Attempting to circumvent player reps is part of a long-running pattern with Jones. He did it to Smith before he drafted him, and tried to do it with wide receiver Dez Bryant. Quarterback Tony Romo and tight end Jason Witten were fine with it, but clearly Parsons is not.
Jones likes to position this tactic as a folksy and personal way of doing business, but to paraphrase what Bryant said to Jones many moons ago, a player trying to negotiate with Jones would be like Jones trying to play against one of his players on a football field.
