The contract negotiations between the Dallas Cowboys and star pass rusher Micah Parsons have severely broken down in recent weeks. That has culminated with Parsons asking for a trade away from Dallas, the only team he has ever played professionally for.
Much of the recent issues between Parsons and the Cowboys appear to stem from the process behind these contract negotiations. Parsons and Cowboys leadership have apparently met in the past to discuss a contract, and that was when Parsons said his agent, David Mulugheta, would contact the team. Mulugheta would then be told by the Cowboys the deal was “pretty much already done.” Since then, there’s been very little progress made.
For Dallas Cowboys owner and president Jerry Jones, it was a frustrating process. As he explained with a story about how he purchased the Cowboys, Jones feels that handshake agreements matter in this kind of negotiation.
“I bought the Cowboys with a handshake,” Jerry Jones said. “It took about 30 seconds. I gave the number, shook hands, the details we worked out later. As a matter of fact, one of the details involved a lot of money, and we had to flip a coin over that, but the fundamental I’m buying and you’re gonna sell it to me for that range, that’s done. Those are done with eye contact and handshakes.”
In 1989, Jerry Jones would purchase the Cowboys for $140 million from H.R. Bright. The Pittsburgh Steelers recently signed TJ Watt, who plays the same position as Micah Parsons, to a three-year, $123 million deal. Parsons is likely looking for similar money to what Watt got from Pittsburgh.
“Just so you understand that the way I communicate with people that I negotiate with. So, let’s leave it at that. There is no question that,” Jones said. “In the case of a player contract, you have to have it in writing. All parties do. We have a contract in writing. Yet, we’re still talking about renegotiating it. So, so much for that.”
Ultimately, Jerry Jones insisted that there is no individual sticking point these negotiations. There are different issues, but none that he thinks are extraordinary.
“There’s no point. There’s points of varying degrees of influence in not having something done,” Jones said. “But nothing that I would say is out of the ordinary.”
Micah Parsons trade request: Dallas Cowboys star’s ‘sole focus’ is on being traded
While negotiations with Dallas are ongoing, Micah Parsons appears to be ready to take another step forward in his career. Now, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler is reporting that it’s his sole focus to be traded.
“I checked in on this and asked around, and I was told that Micah Parsons’ sole focus right now is getting traded. His focus is not on games and the regular season, but we can see how this plays out,” Fowler said.
“If Dallas slow plays it, Micah Parsons would remain on the sidelines of practice. He has reported so he’s not subject to fines right now. Now, if it gets to Week 1 and he still wants to sit out or has some sort of injury, they can maybe put them on a reserve list, but that gets sticky. For now, Parsons knows that there is significant interest out there. For him, you have the rare pass rusher in their mid 20s who’s on a Reggie White-like trajectory. He’s durable, so I’ve heard of a lot of interest from teams around the league that is sort of bubbling. But Dallas is making this a non-starter. They have no plans to trade him.”
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