“It was just frustration that this is going on. I can say from experience that it’s just frustrating,” Prescott said. “I hate that he’s going through it, but as I’ve told him, keep handling things the way that you are, and I believe that he should be paid.”
That frustration boiled into Parsons’ request to be traded, a somewhat unprecedented move for a Cowboys player of his caliber. It’s a difficult situation to fathom, but could Prescott imagine a world where he doesn’t have Parsons as a teammate?
“No, not necessarily,” Prescott said. “I think if I wouldn’t have been in his shoes, and watched other guys be in his shoes and get rewarded, maybe. But I’ve got faith in the Joneses and the team as I do in Micah and his team.”
Prescott isn’t alone in that feeling, as Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones told DallasCowboys.com’s Nick Eatman in an interview on Wednesday that the team would not move Parsons.
“We have no intentions of trading Micah, and that’s part of the negotiations,” Jones said. “That’s just the nature of negotiations. I think any player that’s holding out for a contract – I think I’ve read around the league where they’ve all requested to be traded. So that’s part of it. We have no intention of trading Micah. He’s right here in camp.”
Parsons was absent from practice on Thursday after reportedly being treated for tightness in his back, but hasn’t left Oxnard.
Last week, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones said that he and Parsons had a conversation that he viewed as a negotiation back in March. He also added that the two haven’t spoken since Parsons’ trade request, making things tense.
It’s a hard spot to be in, but engaging in conversations with the Cowboys’ front office was one of the reasons that Prescott ultimately signed an extension with the Cowboys.
“Yes, to an extent,” Prescott said when asked if he engaged with the front office during his negotiations. “I can’t say that, and they would both tell you the same thing, I never engaged in numbers. But there was a lot of engagement, especially on this last one. The first one, maybe not so much of anything, but this last one, yea there was definitely some talks.”
“Particularly with Stephen [Jones], and they were great talks. They were phenomenal talks. Honestly, I don’t know if I do resign if we don’t have those conversations, and it was much more that it was the numbers.”
One of the holdups in Parsons’ negotiation with the Cowboys is a lack of communication between the team and Parsons’ representation, led by his agent David Mulugheta. Parsons wants the Cowboys to reach out to his agent in order to begin negotiations, but Jerry Jones confirmed earlier this week that they had not done so yet.
It was those conversations between Prescott’s agent and the Cowboys that numbers were discussed, and are ultimately why they get involved.
“I think you should trust your representation,” Prescott said. “That’s what they’re there for, simple as that. I don’t want to talk about somebody else’s situation, but I just think you do. You have to trust your representation, and I think 11’s doing it.”
Since Parsons’ trade request, some of his Cowboys’ teammates have shown support for the All-Pro by changing their profile pictures on social media to one of Parsons. Prescott appreciates the support being shown between teammates, and doesn’t think it should be viewed as any sort of dig at the Cowboys’ top decision makers.
“That’s a necessity if you believe in that teammate, you know?” Prescott said. “And so I’m glad that those guys are, and I don’t think it’s a knock in any ways to the front office. It’s a business, and they see things, they have to make decisions.”
And it’s because of Prescott’s understanding of the difference between personal and business dealings that he emphasizes the importance, and separation, between the two.
“We can’t make something business, personal,” Prescott said. I think when you do that, then that’s where the division comes. We supporting Micah says hell with the Joneses? No it doesn’t, I support this hell of a player that’s doing things the right way, I think the business part should follow it.”
Still, that’s easier said than done from an outsiders perspective.
“It’s hard to for sure when it’s you and you’re in the mix. A thousand percent,” Prescott said. “And that’s why I say it’s frustrating as somebody that’s been there. If you’re making it personal and it’s not about you, then you’re wrong… mind your business, just get back to supporting that individual and not nitpicking a conversation of business that you don’t belong in.”
While things are tense now, and there’s no clear finish line in sight, that doesn’t mean there can’t be. At times, Prescott admitted that he had his own tension with the Joneses during his negotiations, but at the end of the day, there’s always a way to turn the page.
“That’s what happens in business, people get emotional and people make it personal at times. But when that deal happens, we can make it go away. The tension wasn’t personal to begin with, it was over business. And so once that business deal happens, you can move forward.”
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