Blogging The Boys
What do you think Micah Parsons’ eventual contract with the Cowboys will look like?
The Dallas Cowboys weren’t major players in free agency, but they were relatively active this offseason by their standards. Bringing back defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa (4 years, $80 million) right before free agency was big, but the rest of their moves had much smaller price tags.
Dallas was active in the trade market, getting Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens and acquiring cornerback Kaiir Elam from the Bills. But, when it comes to their offseason priorities, the major piece of business left to handle is star edge rusher Micah Parsons’s contract extension.
Parsons, a first-round pick back in 2021, has blossomed into one of the NFL’s brightest stars, reaching at least 12 sacks and making the Pro Bowl in each of his first seasons in the NFL. In fact, he’s also been a two-time first-team All-Pro selection and has ranked in the top three for Defensive Player of the Year voting three times. Talk about accomplished.
Parsons is in line to become one of the highest-paid, if not the highest-paid, defensive players in the NFL. He’s only 26, has missed only four games due to injury, and is a force to be reckoned with on the edge.
The Cowboys have been firm when it comes to contract negotiations in years past, notably with stars CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, who signed their extensions in late August and early September last year, respectively.
There have been conflicting comments this offseason from owner Jerry Jones on contract negotiations, but the expectation is that Parsons will get his long-term contract sometime before the start of the season. It was a good sign that the star showed up to mandatory minicamp this week, but Parsons did note that it’s going to likely cost the Cowboys more money than the handshake deal he and Jones agreed to back in March.
So, what could a Parsons deal look like?
Much of the negotiation process for major extensions involves playing the waiting game. For Parsons, that could be seeing what star pass-rusher T.J. Watt gets from the Pittsburgh Steelers on his next contract extension this offseason.
After all, Parsons is younger than Watt, and the second to get their extension usually sees an increase in money. There is also the matter of Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Parsons and Watt deals should end up being more across the board.
Additionally, there are always baseline numbers to consider in negotiations, both with pass-rushers who got paid and the highest-paid non-quarterback, which is currently Ja’Marr Chase.
Myles Garrett broke the bank on his extension this offseason, landing a four-year, $160 million deal in new money to go along with the two years and $44.795 million he had left on his old contract.
Garrett got $123.6 million in total guarantees and $59.3 million guaranteed at signing. That includes his signing bonus, 2025 and 2026 compensation,...
