The Dallas Cowboys will face the Eagles in their regular season opener Sept. 4 at Lincoln Financial Field, but defensive end Micah Parsons’ availability remains uncertain due to ongoing contract negotiations that have kept him out of training camp.
The situation drew sharp criticism Monday from ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, who blasted Cowboys management for creating what he called an unnecessary distraction just days before the season opener.
“The Cowboys honestly are becoming a joke,” Orlovsky, a former NFL QB, said on Get Up. “It’s Monday morning, 10 days before the season starts, and we’re talking about their best player laying down on a medical table and is it a big deal or not. When I first started in this business, it was like we were talking about the Cowboys and the best offensive line in the history of football and Zeke (Ezekiel) Elliott running for 50. Now we’re talking about Micah Parsons laying down on a table 10 days before playing on the road against their division rival.”
To make matters worse, NFL insider Adam Schefter said on the show that there was concern about Parsons’ availability for the game if he were to be signed.
“We are getting close to the start of the regular season opener and he has not practiced this summer due to back tightness,” Schefter said. “The fact of the matter is, if he’s out there at all, he’ll be limited because he hasn’t gone through practice at all. That’s the short-term picture. There’s obviously a lot to this... We’ll see if he can make it out there next week. I would say right now that is very much in question.”
Parsons, a two-time All-Pro who has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons in the league, finished with 12 sacks, 43 tackles and two forced fumbles in 13 games last season. He has been “holding in” as he waits for an extension, showing his displeasure by removing any mention of the team from his social media pages.
The stalemate comes as Parsons, 25, is trying to take advantage of the lucrative extensions given to the top edge rushers. The Cleveland Browns gave Myles Garrett a four-year, $160 million extension, and the Pittsburgh Steelers recently gave T.J. Watt a new three-year, $123 million contract extension with $108 million guaranteed.
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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
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