Pro Football Rumors
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reaffirmed a hard stance in the team’s extension negotiations with Micah Parsons on Thursday, insisting that the two sides had already agreed to a deal and blaming the lack of progress on Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta.
“When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our [expletive],” said Jones in an interview with Michael Irvin, Mulugheta has since denied that claim, per Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS.
“We had our agreement on term, amount, guarantees, everything,” continued Jones, referencing a conversation he had with Parsons earlier this offseason. “We’ve got this deal resolved, in my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys.” Jones also said that his agreement with Parsons “would have made him the highest guaranteed player other than a quarterback in the NFL.”
“The world would know that I want Micah if they knew what I offered him,” added Jones. That offer, according to Hill, was worth more than $40MM per year with almost $200MM in guaranteed money.
However, Parsons has since demanded that the Cowboys reach out to Mulugheta to finalize the contract. Jones, believing he already had a deal, hasn’t been willing to do that, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.
Jones has a well-documented history of trying to negotiate directly with players rather than through their agents and referenced such agreements with Irvin in their interview. He also revealed that he once shut down negotiations with a prospective coach because he wanted to involve an “advisor.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me…talking directly to a player,” said Jones. But there might be.
In 2023, the NFL sent a memo to every team regarding a non-NFLPA certified agent trying to negotiate on the behalf of Lamar Jackson, per Around The NFL’s Nick Shook. That memo included a reminder that, under Article 48 of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, “an Offer Sheet, which may result in an NFL Player Contract, may only be negotiated with the player, if he is acting on his own behalf, or with the player’s NFLPA certified agent.” The memo also warned that “Violation of this rule may result in disapproval of any Offer Sheet or resulting Player Contract entered into by Mr. Jackson and the new Club.”
At the end of the interview, Jones leaned on Irvin to reach out Parsons personally to set up a meeting with Jones and “bridge this gap.”
“His agent should be involved in terms of papering it and all that kind of stuff,” said Jones, but he maintained his position that agents shouldn’t be involved in negotiations beyond formalities and paperwork.
Jones also referenced the potential to place the franchise tag on Parsons in 2026 and 2027 on multiple occasions.
“We can have him three years without having this agreement,” said Jones, comparing the situation to the Cowboys’ use of the franchise tag on Dak Prescott in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s exactly what happened with Dak,” explained Jones. *“The precedent is handling it like...
