Ex-Cowboys Star Rips Handling of Micah Parsons Contract

If there is a player who has some understandings of the vagaries of how business is done with the Cowboys, it is former defensive lineman Chris Canty, a fourth-round pick by Dallas in 2005,  who wound up being a pretty big draft hit. He played in all 16 games as a rookie and was a starter by Year 2, launching a string of 48 straight starts for Dallas’ defensive front.

When it came time to pay him in free agency, after his fourth season, the Cowboys just did not have the room to take care of him, and he bolted for the Giants, who paid him $42 million over six seasons.

It’s an apples-and-oranges comparison to what’s going on now with Dallas and a certain defensive end who needs a new contract–star pass-rusher Micah Parsons. But as Canty sees it, Parsons’ situation is akin to the way the Cowboys handled Dak Prescott‘s extension last year, as well as CeeDee Lamb‘s new contract.

Dallas waited until the end of camp to finally sign Lamb, and did not get a deal done with Prescott until the opening of the season.

Micah Parsons Price Tag on the Rise

There is folly in that approach, as Canty pointed out. The longer the Cowboys wait to get these deals done, the more they allow other teams to set the market with their own players–raising the amount the Cowboys have to pay in the end.

“It’s not about who’s the better player, it’s about who signs the deal next,” Canty said on Tuesday on the ESPN show, “Unsportsmanlike.” “It’s about what the market dictates. So that’s where things are. If you’re the Dallas Cowboys, how can you sit back and let all these guys reset the market?”

Canty pointed out that two players had already bumped up the market from the previous high for a defensive player, Nick Bosa, at $34 million per year. Maxx Crosby bumped that to $35 million with his new deal from the Raiders, and Myles Garrett blew both out of the water with $40 million per year.

The Steelers’ TJ Watt is still awaiting a new contract, too.

Cowboys ‘Day Late and a Dollar More’

And that’s the problem, as Canty sees it. A player like Parsons has the right to demand a payout as big as any other pass rusher. So, by letting other pass rushers push up the number, the Cowboys are costing themselves.

“This is not going to work out as easy as it did with Dak Prescott’s or CeeDee Lamb’s just because of what we’ve seen happen at the position this offseason and what we know will happen before the start of the season,” Canty said. “So, if the Dallas Cowboys took care of this right after season’s end, the high-water mark for defensive players would have been Nick Bosa at $34 million.

“We saw Maxx Crosby get paid $35 million a year, we saw Myles Garrett give defensive players and edge rushers a quantum leap with his megadeal, $40 million a year.”

Parsons is certain to stay with the Cowboys. But the team’s bungling means it will be a more expensive deal than it needed to be. It’s been a familiar theme.

“Why are you waiting?” Canty asked. “The Dallas Cowboys, man. Day late and a dollar more, every single time.”