Micah Parsons is in line to soon become one of, if not the highest paid defensive player in football this offseason.
After Myles Garrett was given a 4 year, $160 million deal that made him the first non-quarterback to make $40 million/year (a number that was eventually overtaken by Bengals receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, who received $40.25 million/year), the benchmark rose for what the Parsons deal would look like.
With the former Penn State man entering the final year of his 5-year rookie deal on the Dallas Cowboys, Parsons is staring down the barrel of a pay day that is likely substantially more lucrative than one he would have received a year ago, when the highest paid defensive player was Nick Bosa, playing on *just* a $34 million/annum contract.
Is Micah Parsons Close To Signing An Extension?
And with contract news quieting down over the past couple of months, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones bought the deal back to the forefront in telling Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News that he believes that the pair will “ultimately get something done”.
Cowboys writer and insider, Clarence Hill Jr. of ALL DLLS, who has appeared on major sportstalk podcasts like The Rich Eisen Show, then claimed that there is already a handshake deal between the parties.
And whilst this is certainly exciting for Dallas fans, it turns out that this feeling was short lived, as Parsons quickly denied the report.
The blue cap symbolizes the slang “cap”, implying that Hill’s report is false, and that Parsons and the team do not in fact have a handshake deal in place for a new contract.
What Is The Future For Parsons Amid Contract Uncertainty?
All signs seem to be pointing to exactly what Stephen Jones said – that the contract will eventually get done between the Cowboys and Parsons.
The Cowboys rarely let top talent at premier positions in their prime leave in free agency. In fact, nowadays almost no franchise would let a top-five edge rusher like Parsons – still only 25 years of age – walk.
But the question in hand will be the contract number. After the Cowboys vastly overpaid for Dak Prescott last September, handing him a $60 million/year deal that made the highest paid player in the league by a $5 million margin; and handed receiver CeeDee Lamb a 4 year, $136 million deal just prior – how much money do they actually have left to give to Parsons.
One option could be to backload the Parsons’ future contract – reducing the cap hit for the first few years of the deal – in anticipation of even greater future cap hikes, and the knowledge that quarterback, Prescott may no longer be with the organization in two to three years – if the franchise continues to only see limited returns from their major investment.
Regardless of how they do it, it feels very likely that Dallas will find a way to get it done. The main question will be – can they do it in a way that doesn’t financially handicap the organization for years to come.
