PFT's Mike Florio has moved from mocking Cowboys owner Jerry Jones as a liar to accusing him of purposely failing to sign Micah Parsons for PR reasons.
FRISCO - Jerry Jones is being accused by a national media figure of purposely sabotaging the football success of the Dallas Cowboys - specifically as it relates to the signing of a Micah Parsons contract extension - in exchange for being "the top story in sports.
It's a damning accusation that would be even more noteworthy if ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio could back it up with reporting.
Florio has developed a reputation for contrarian gripes about the way all NFL teams do their business. But he's recently worked up a habit of leveling incendiary accusations about the Cowboys ... and doing so in the face of real reporting.
It was a month ago when Florio pulled one of these stunts, mocking the Cowboys owner while accusing him of lying about Dallas having worked on two "substantive" trades right around NFL Draft time.
"Fans and media have begun to wake up to the notion that Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones is more carnival barker than trophy chaser," he wrote. "It’s not about winning, it’s about being interesting. And he always finds ways to be interesting."
We're not sure why Florio has elevated himself to the position of arbiter of what all "fans and media'' think. But our problems with his "report'' here were two-fold.
One, we were among the small group of media members who were at The Star the day Jones made his "substantive'' comments. And our 35 years of covering Jones' Cowboys left us believing he was sincere.
(Florio, of course, was not present for the interview.)
Two, within days of Jones' prediction, the Cowboys literally engaged in two "substantive'' trade discussions.
One was a trade-back from No. 12 with the Houston Texans; Dallas declined Houston's offer and picked Alabama guard Tyler Booker, an immediate starter.
And the other? The trade talks with the Pittsburgh Steelers that resulted in Dallas' blockbuster acquisition of receiver George Pickens.
Jones, in the most literal sense, was "caught telling the the truth.''
Florio did not apologize or correct his reporting; instead, he re-shaped his criticism by noting that Pickens has an "incomplete contract.''
There is, of course, no such thing as an "incomplete contract''; Pickens is simply entering the final year of his rookie deal, with nothing at all unusual about it.
Fast-forward to the fresh accusation Florio has now concocted regarding Parsons, who CowboysCountry.com has reported has engaged in at least three face-to-face meetings with Jones, with the idea of a five-year, $200 million deal being discussed.
It is Florio's theory that the reason Parsons' new deal remains unsigned is because Jones "would rather have the latest unsettled contract become the top story for sports media than to see his team benefit from the relative irrelevance of peace."
Let that sink in. It's a fireball of news story if true, a cementing of the idea we've discussed often in this space that "Sometimes Jerry Jones' Cowboys seem like. marketing team that plays football on side.''
But does that idea extend so dangerously far as to sabotage the team's relationship with Parsons, the star player's happiness with what he's due, the team's locker room chemistry when Parsons' teammates know what he deserves, and the wins-and-losses that can be impacted by a deep contract delay?
All for a couple of headlines?
Jones brings some of this on himself. His obsession with being "above the fold'' is real, and his unquestionable marketing genius in turning this into a $10 billion franchise is obviously not matched by on-field accomplishments, as Dallas remains in a 30-year Super Bowl drought.
But Florio's offering here represents a potential major new story and an incredible accusation ... that could be made more credible by actual reporting instead of habitual trolling.
