Stop us if you've heard this before in the last week, but the Dallas Cowboys have just watched the price for a homegrown star go up by dilly-dallying at the negotiation table. This time, Micah Parsons is the player in question after the Steelers and T.J. Watt agreed to a record-setting extension.
It is a three-year, $123 million deal that includes a gargantuan $108 million fully guaranteed at the time of signing, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. The $41 million annual average value makes Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history as it exceeds the $40 million per year average that Myles Garrett got from the Browns earlier this offseason.
That is a benchmark Parsons expects to set himself, but it is fair to assume that negotiations will start at $42 million and go from there.
Micah Parsons' price goes up again for the Cowboys after T.J. Watt's extension
It really is the same old story.
Parsons is on the record saying he wanted to sign his extension last offseason. That couldn't happen, though, because Jones was dragging his feet with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, both of whom should have been signed in 2023. See the pattern?
Jones paid the piper in both instances. Prescott became the league's highest-paid quarterback at $60 million per year, while Lamb became the then-second highest-paid receiver at $34 million per year behind Ja'Marr Chase. Lamb missed most of training camp waiting for a respectable offer and his chemistry with Prescott was a tick off to start the year, so Jones' antics spilled over onto the field.
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Jones stands to lose more even money with Parsons, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network understands the Lions are in talks with star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
While Hutchinson is a great player, he is coming off a major injury and has only been in the league three years. His numbers pale in comparison to that of Parsons. If Hutchinson gets $40 million per year (or more), Parsons could justify demanding a per year average of $45 million.
Nothing good comes from delaying these big deals. But this is how Jerry Jones operates.
The Cowboys will eventually have the highest-paid players at two positions (quarterback and edge rusher) and the third highest-paid receiver. This sets Jones up to blame those players when Dallas eventually doesn't spend money in free agency and when the team falls short in January.
Jones has managed to manipulate portions of Cowboys fans and the media into buying into that narrative, but folks have started to catch on.
This is all sadly unfolding exactly how Jones drew it up, but he's the real loser in the grand scheme.