Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has earned a reputation for letting contract talks with his team’s best players drag out longer, ultimately costing the club more money. If that same approach is taken with a Micah Parsons contract extension, it could hinder the club even more for years to come.
Between Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs, the Cowboys are using $139.4 million of cap obligations to just three players on a 53-man roster. While restructured contracts can lower that commitment in 2025, it will come at the cost of long-term financial flexibility.
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- Micah Parsons stats (ESPN): 23 QB hits, 12 TFLs, 12 sacks, 2 forced fumbles in 13 games
It’s one of the reasons why teams like the Philadelphia Eagles sign their best players to contract extensions early. Philadelphia gets ahead of the market, extending its top talent at the most important positions before other deals reset the average annual salary at said positions. Dallas takes the opposite approach.
That’s why Prescott is the first $60 million player in NFL history, Dallas backed itself into a corner that gave all the negotiating leverage to its quarterback. Even before reaching that point with Parsons, the All-Pro edge rusher seems poised to reset the market for defensive players.
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Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote that Parsons wouldn’t be out of line to ask the Cowboys front office for a multi-year extension worth $40 million per year this offseason. Of greater concern for Dallas, the cost will likely be even higher if they wait.
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- Micah Parsons contract (Spotrac): $24.007 million cap hit in 2025, NFL free agent in 2026
San Francisco 49ers edge rusher Nick Bosa is currently the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL at $35 million. Meanwhile, fellow top pass rushers like Aidan Hutchinson, T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby are all seeking new deals that would push well north of $35 million per season, likely in the ballpark of a $40 million AAV.
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If the Cowboys extend Parsons before his peers get new long-term deals, they would end up needing to spend less long-term and his contract could become a relative bargain in a few years. However, the club’s recent history suggests that Jones will drag out contract negotiations as long as possible. If history repeats itself, Parsons will still sign with Dallas but for millions of dollars more per year than the team could get right now.