FRISCO - Pretty much all of it is music to the ears of Dallas Cowboys fans everywhere as Micah Parsons, media spokesman, is having a very, very good week - capped by his profane hatred for his home-state Philadelphia Eagles.
Parsons first responded smartly and calmly to rumors of him being traded all triggered by an ill-advised open-ended statement from Cowboys COO Stephen Jones. Stephen has had to crawfish after failing to simply say "no'' when asked by NFL.com about the possibility of dealing Parsons rather than signing him.
Parsons wisely saw the need to address this junk and did so smoothy on his Monday podcast, "The Edge,
"We're gonna figure out a way for me to be a Cowboy for life," he said.
Next up, his Thursday media session inside The Star in Frisco, during which he addressed his contract situation.
Parsons in 2025 is presently slated to play under the fifth-year option of his contract, so he will be making $24 million. But his stated goal has been to make $40 million per year and to become the highest-paid defensive player of all time.
That can still happen, of course, no matter what each side says in public. And Micah's case seems a strong one. This is a special player who in 60 career games has totaled 245 tackles, 49 sacks, 59 tackles for loss and 108 quarterback hits.
But on Thursday, Parsons came across as team-minded and open-minded when he said that while "highest-paid ever'' is nice, “It would be nice to be surrounded by good players. Players are going to help you win championships. I want to keep as many guys as possible. … I want to work with (team management) as much as possible.”
But what about that $40 million desire?
“I don’t need $40 million per year,'' Parsons said, evoking laughter from the media. (Hat-tip Jon Machota). "I need to be somewhere where I can have a lake house.”
Parsons, a three-time Pro Bowler and a two-time First Team All-Pro and a foundational piece of where the Cowboys hope to go as a franchise, even said he does not plan on holding out next summer if negotiations drag.
"I think I'll still be around,'' he said, while also endorsing the idea of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer returning. (Micah has already gone to bat for head coach Mike McCarthy in the same way.) "I got to be around guys. ... There's a chemistry part. ... I still gotta be there for that part."
And if that isn't enough, Parsons also demonstrated that while he is a Pennsylvania native, he's now all Cowboy. When asked about rooting for Philadelphia to beat Washington this weekend because that would increase Dallas' playoff odds, Micah suggested he simply could not stomach doing that.
“Nah,'' he said. "It’s '(Expletive) Philly' now. Even if we got eliminated, like, I gotta crush Philly. (Expletive) them. I hate them now. I see them talk so much on social (media). ...''
We will excuse Micah for that last remark, as nobody in the NFL "talks on social media'' more than he does. But if his talk is going to be about contract sacrifice, no holdout and (Expletive) Philly''?
Cowboys Nation won't mind him speaking out at all.
