We are officially into the second week of training camp for the Dallas Cowboys and, to both the surprise and non-surprise of many, there is still no new deal for Micah Parsons.
At the moment Parsons is set to enter the fifth-year option season applied to his rookie contract, the final year of that particular deal. You are well aware of how the Cowboys have a tendency to draw these things out - the CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott situations last year really elevated this conversation that we have been having for a long time to a national level - and in that sense this was all very predictable.
You could argue that this latest twist was/is as well. ESPNs Adam Schefter discussed the situation on his podcast on Tuesday and noted that negotiations have actually gone, as he categorized them, backwards between Parsons and the team. You can watch the relevant clip here and we have also transcribed it for you if you dont feel like doing so.
I would say right now we are further away from a deal in late July, early August than we were in late March, early April.
The two sides have gone backwards, not forwards. I dont think theyre speaking very much these days if at all.
...but this negotiation, when it was a negotiation, has gone sideways. Its not a negotiation right now. Theres really no conversation about getting a deal done.
That could change next week. It could change shortly before the season... weve seen how long Dallas sometimes waits on some of these deals. See CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott last season.
This sounds different to me. This sounds a little bit more personal from both sides. It sounds like Dallas is upset with the fact it felt like it was getting closer to a deal and that deal went sideways. And I think Micah Parsons feels like this deal should have been done.
I dont think Micahs real happy with them. I dont think theyre real happy with him. I dont think anybodys real happy with anybody and I dont think theres a deal thats being discussed right now, not to mention being close.
Schefter is one of the most plugged-in NFL insiders in the game so for him to say this carries some weight. It is difficult to believe that things could have gone sideways or backwards if we are looking at them through the lens of logic. This whole thing seems straightforward. More than that, it is basically on record that the Cowboys are willing to make Parsons the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.
Schefter mentioned the Lamb and Prescott deals from last year and in case anyone needed a reminder, Lambs deal did not get taken care of until the team wrapped the Oxnard portion of training camp. You likely recall that Prescotts deal was done on the day that the season literally started, the news dropped almost at the same time as the inactives for the early window games on Sunday of Week 1.
We continue to wait here. For how long is anybodys guess.
