Cowboys owner Jerry Jones claims that there was no rule violation in the way that the team attempted to negotiated a contract extension with LB Micah Parsons.
“There is no violation, period,” Jones said, via NY Times. “I have all the authority in the world, and the player has all the authority in the world, to negotiate directly with me. There is no equivocation there. Can I work through an agent or an attorney? An attorney can do the very same thing. Do it all the time. It usually ends up a little of both on a pretty high-profile player, but there is no violation. I have every right — can you imagine if you didn’t have the right when you’re the one that decides whether to trade him or not? How could you not have the right? There is no equivocation here, and been no rule violation.”
Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said the team always respects the wishes of the players if they want to negotiate through an agent.
“We do have players that come in — and we totally respect it — that say, ‘I don’t feel comfortable talking about my contract, I’d like you to go through my agent,’” Jones said. “And we do that, respectfully. I mean, you’re not required to come in and negotiate the contract yourself. All of the ones we’ve done like that are those who request to come in and visit with Jerry or myself. That’s the only ones we’ve done that way.”