Jerry Jones has yet to find a contract negotiation he won't drag out. Since 2023, the Dallas Cowboys owner has run the same routine with star players Zack Martin, CeeDee Lamb, and Dak Prescott: Lowball, refuse to budge in public, then end up paying more at the last minute. This recurring saga livens up the period before the season begins, and it's certainly more compelling than any of the Cowboys' recent playoff runs.
But this year's edition, featuring Micah Parsons, has taken an interesting turn. The Pro Bowl defensive end chose not to drag out this process until the start of September. On Friday, he publicly requested a trade as he explained his frustration.
Thank you Dallas 🦁👑 🙏🏾! I pic.twitter.com/EUnEj9uRUt
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) August 1, 2025
In a lengthy Notes App statement, Parsons said that he had hoped to renegotiate a deal following his third season, after he became a three-time All-Pro, but the Cowboys declined. He said he tried again after last season, but his agent David Mulugheta recommended that he wait until the NFL's other defensive ends—Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, and T.J. Watt—set the market with their new contracts.
That's all pretty standard. Where it gets interesting is later in Parsons's note:
In March I met with Mr. Jones to talk about leadership. Somehow the conversation turned into him talking contract with me. Yes I engaged in a back and forth in regards to what I wanted from my contract, but at no point did I believe this was supposed to be a formal negotiation and I informed Mr. Jones afterward my agent would reach out thinking this would get things done. But when my agent reached out and spoke to [senior director of salary cap/player contracts] Adam [Prasifka] he was told the deal was pretty much already done. My agent of course told him that wasn't the case and also reached out to [Cowboys CEO] Stephen Jones. Again the team decided to go radio silent. At that point we decided we would allow the team to reach out to us whenever they decided they wanted to talk. Yet still not a call email or text to my agent about starting a negotiation.
[...]
Still I stayed quiet but again after repeated shots at myself and all the narratives I have made a tough decision I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys. My trade request has been submitted to Stephen Jones personally.
Finally, they switched up this TV show's plot a little bit. A trade request is certainly more dramatic, but it feels like a pretty obvious escalation tactic by Parsons, and Jerry Jones knows it as well. At Saturday's practice, which Parsons attended, the team owner told reporters that he had no plans to trade one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. Jones still thinks he can get a deal done, although he said he hadn't spoken with Parsons since the trade request. Via The Athletic:
“I wouldn’t be standing here with you if I didn’t think we potentially had a great future with Micah,” Jones said. “It would be a waste of all of our time. We’re in good shape. This is negotiation. But make no mistake about it, life has to go on if something happens to me or anybody else. Life does go on. This thing called the NFL, it’s not about one person, me included, in a big way.”
A few of Parsons's teammates have grown weary of this song and dance, including Lamb, who had to go through the routine to get his new contract last year. "Never fails dawg," the wide receiver tweeted. "Just pay the man what you owe em. No need for the extra curricular."
Maybe Jones keeps doing this for the love of the game. Presumably an 82-year-old billionaire with an NFL team and nobody in his proximity to tell him no has effectively accomplished everything he wants in his life, at the expense of many others. Or maybe he just likes the attention it brings the Cowboys every summer. With that said ... could you imagine if he fucks this up so badly that he has to trade Parsons? While unlikely, it would be entirely deserved and hilarious. Let's all manifest it as hard as we can.
