The Dallas Cowboys and the generational edge-rushing talent they drafted in the 2021 first round out of Penn State, Micah Parsons, have been locked in a stalemate over a new contract not just this year, but since the end of the 2023 season. Now, that dispute has apparently reached a point of no return.
Following the third straight All-Pro season of his then-three year-old career, Parsons approached the Cowboys about a contract extension, but was rebuffed. Parsons was reportedly willing at the time to set the request aside and focus on 2024. But after that season, he contacted the team again, attempting to secure an extension that would seal his long-term commitment to the Cowboys.
Cowboys Exercised Parsons’ 2025 Option
In March, he met with Cowboys owner and de facto general manager Jerry Jones but came away without his contract situation settled. Instead, in April, the Cowboys exercised their team option to keep Jones for the 2025 season, albeit at a substantial raise, boosting his salary to $24 million, according to the sports business site Spotrac.
Parsons’ four-year rookie contract paid him slightly under $3 million in base salary last year.
But no other progress has been made on settling a contract extension between the Cowboys and the 23-year-old from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On Friday, Parsons dropped a bomb — he took to his social media accounts to announce that he had requested a trade from the Cowboys.
https://x.com/MicahhParsons11/status/1951346210067095890
‘No Intention’ of Dealing Parsons Away
Whether the Cowboys will accommodate Parsons’ trade demand remains to be seen. As of Friday, according to Dianna Russini, senior NFL insider for The Athletic, “the Dallas Cowboys have no intention of trading Micah Parsons, per sources.”
But Russini added that, despite the Cowboys’ apparent reluctance to part with Parsons, “teams around the league are planning to reach out to check on his availability today.”
Another top NFL insider, Adam Schefter of ESPN, on Friday revealed what he said was the best comparison for what a Parsons trade would look like. That comp, Schefter wrote in an online post, is the 2018 trade of nine-time Pro Bowl pick Khalil Mack.
2018 Mack Trade Set NFL Precedent
The then-Oakland Raiders and their All-Pro linebacker had reached a contract impasse similar to the situation between Dallas and Parsons. The Raiders exercised Mack’s fifth-year option but rather than deal with signing him to a long-term deal, shipped him off to the Chicago Bears in a blockbuster trade of a magnitude rarely seen in the NFL at the time.
“A potential trade comp for Micah Parsons,” Schefter wrote. “When 27-year-old Khalil Mack was traded from Oakland to Chicago, the Bears gave up two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick for Mack, a second-round pick, and a conditional fifth-round pick.”
In 2018, teams were generally reluctant to trade away first-round draft picks, but the Mack trade set a precedent and has since been followed by multiple deals in which veteran stars are traded away for future first-round draft spots.
Parsons Could Command Steeper Price Than Mack
If the Cowboys do trade Parsons, the deal could be expected to follow the model set by the Mack trade — but in fact, any team that acquires Parsons will likely be forced to pay an even higher price.
Parsons is one year younger than Mack, and with his 12 sacks in 2024 — despite missing four games with a high ankle sprain — became only the second player since sacks became a official NFL stat in 1982 to record at least 12 in the first four seasons of his career.
The other was the late Hall of Famer Reggie White, then with the Philadelphia Eagles, who got to opposing quarterbacks for 13, 18, 21, and 18 sacks from 1985 to 1988.
Parsons totaled 13, 13 1/2, 14 and 12 from 2021 through 2024.
