The Washington Commanders are currently embroiled in a contract standoff with prolific wide receiver Terry McLaurin. Tensions and frustrations are building, but general manager Adam Peters should hopefully get something worked out before or shortly after training camp begins.
In the meantime, Commanders fans can take solace in the ongoing dysfunction with one of their bitter NFC East rivals.
There is another storm brewing above the Dallas Cowboys. And not for the first time in recent years, under owner/general manager Jerry Jones' erratic leadership, it's something he's brought on himself.
Jones loves the Cowboys being in the headlines. It's one of the reasons why he waits to extend his top stars, even if it costs him more in the long run. It's happened with quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. It's happening again with All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Commanders fans can revel in Jerry Jones' constant fumbling of team affairs in Dallas
And the price is only increasing thanks to developments around the league.
Parsons had no trouble throwing Jones and the Cowboys under the bus during an appearance on the Six Feet Under podcast with Mark Calaway (former WWE star The Undertaker). This came just a few short hours before the Pittsburgh Steelers finally got a megabucks deal worked out with T.J. Watt, which raises the financial bar again.
"We obviously wanted to get done early. We want that relief off our backs. But, obviously, ownership is always gonna make it drag out, make it more complicated than it has to be. Lack of communication and that standpoint, but, you know, I just always say, God has me this far, he ain’t done with me yet, so, you know, I just keep working, keep going, and then when it comes, I’m gonna be ready. But, you know, ain’t gonna be no dropoff."
Micah Parsons via The Landry Hat
Watt got a new three-year, $123 million extension with $108 million guaranteed from the Steelers. That works out at $41 million per year — $1 million more than the Cleveland Browns gave Myles Garrett.
This won't go unnoticed by Parsons' representative, whom Jones wasn't exactly complimentary toward earlier this offseason. The former first-round pick out of Penn State wants to be the league's highest-paid edge threat. After Watt's extension, that makes the floor $42 million per season and not a penny less.
Jones has backed himself into a corner. Parsons will get extended, but had the billionaire done it a lot sooner, he'd have saved himself a ton of money along the way.
That's of no concern to the Commanders, who've got their big problem to figure out with McLaurin. However, if Jones keeps mismanaging the Cowboys in the same manner moving forward, that's only going to help Washington's cause.
The Commanders surged ahead of the Cowboys last season. Jones' constant fumbling of team affairs can keep them there.
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