Cowboys star edge rusher Micah Parsons showed up to training camp despite not having a contract extension. He addressed the media Tuesday and expressed frustration at “not much movement” in negotiations.
He has no idea when he might get a new deal as his agent, David Mulugheta, has called the Cowboys without a response.
“I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll see. We’ll just see how long things take,” Parsons said, via video from Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com.
Without naming names, Parsons pointed out that the Cowboys aren’t treating him any differently than they did CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott or Zack Martin. The team made all of them wait on extensions, too.
“It’s not like I’m getting differently than anyone else. I don’t take it personally. I just don’t understand,” Parsons said.
Parsons became eligible for a contract extension after the 2023 season. He is headed into the final year of his rookie deal scheduled to make $24 million on the fifth-year option.
He has watched as the Browns rewarded edge rusher Myles Garrett; the Raiders paid edge rusher Maxx Crosby; and the Steelers took care of edge rusher T.J. Watt. Watt signed his three-year, $123 million extension Tuesday, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.
Parsons can’t understand why the Cowboys haven’t yet done the same for him.
“Honestly, yeah, when you go around the league and you see these other teams taking care of their best guys,” Parsons said. “I’ve seen T.J. got taken care of. Maxx got taken care of. Myles got taken care of, and he had two years left on his deal, so it’s hard when you see a lot of people in our league getting taken care of. You just wish you had that same type of energy.”
Parsons, 26, has 52.5 sacks in his career, earning All-Pro twice and making the Pro Bowl all four seasons. He had 12 sacks and 23 quarterback hits — both career lows — in 13 games last season.
He has earned an extension and sounds hurt that the team has waited so long for him to get his.
“If they don’t want me here, they don’t want me here,” Parsons said. “I’ll go about my business. I understand the nature of the business. As long as I’m under contract, I’m going to do what I have to do to perform at the highest level. But if this is the end, this is the end.”
