FRISCO — The Dallas Cowboys have had over a year to brace for an eventual Micah Parsons contract extension. It's that time now and it seems they are in the same place they were last year: nowhere.
The Cowboys defensive star has paid his dues with the team and proven his loyalty, specifically last season when he returned from a four-game absence and led the rallying cry for what was otherwise a defeated Dallas team.
Pre-free agency, there was one positive sign for a potential deal. Dallas acted quickly to retain defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa, ensuring he did not hit the open market.
The Cowboys then opened up more salary cap space when they restructured the contracts of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. All those moves gave the feeling that something big could be coming.
However, the major free agency wave has passed with no deal in place. According to Cowboys' reporter Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, that has made matters more difficult for the team.
“If the Cowboys got the extension done with Parsons before free agency, the results of free agency wouldn’t be part of the negotiations,” Yousuf said.
“However, free agency came and went. The Cowboys freed up cap space in the days leading into the league’s new year but didn’t use that to sign anybody who would make a significant difference or ease the load off Parsons."
The site adds, "Parsons, who has already been prone to being absent for voluntary offseason activities ... could hold out of voluntary and mandatory team activities.''
We would add this: That was already going to be in play, regardless of whether Dallas made blockbuster moves at the start of free agency. So we're not sure that suggesting that Micah will be especially upset by the lack of major moves and will therefore skip OTAs has much validity.
Indeed, what if Dallas did sign Micah to a $40 million APY early on - with him assuming that more big deals were on the way - and then nothing happened?
Wouldn't he be just as "especially upset'' then?
Parsons' contract extension came with two goals: for him to get his deserved raise and earn that deal with an upgraded roster around him. The first has not been achieved and through the last few weeks, it is hard to argue that objective has been reached in full.
Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby both got major pay days at the start of free agency, meaning the price for Parsons went up. Seeing that and a lackluster campaign to acquire new talent is not ideal for either side.
By the end of the offseason, Parsons and the Cowboys will likely have come to terms and this will be a matter of the past. But this sequence of events has not marked the dream offseason that Cowboys Nation or Parsons himself had in mind.
