The Dallas Cowboys have finally begun talks regarding extending Micah Parsons.
Having hopefully learned their lesson about waiting overlong after bungling both CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott’s extensions. Both missteps cost the team several million dollars.
Parsons has indicated that he’s less concerned with be the highest paid at his position and more with fielding a team that can play for a title.
A big difference between his approach, coming from a player that is probably one of the best at his position, and Prescott’s.
Prescott demanded to be the highest paid player in the NFL, despite not even being in the top five quarterbacks in the league. Parsons, on the other hand, has the numbers to prove he’s worth it.
In four years, Parsons has made the Pro Bowl all four years.
He was the defensive rookie of the year in 2021.
He is averaging 13 sacks a season, to go along with 64 tackles a year. He’s forced nine fumbles, recovered four including one for a score, and defended nine passes.
Last year, despite missing four games, he still had 12 sacks and 43 tackles and hit the quarterback 23 times.
As one more indicator how much of an impact he has, the Cowboys went 7-10 last year overall. They were 6-7 when he played.
And his stats are all the more impressive when you consider how often he is double-teamed. That’s not even taking into consideration how often he’s held without drawing a flag.
One more thing to consider: those four games were the first Parsons has missed in his career.
Roster Review 2025: Micah Parsons. This is Part 22 of a series. Click here for a list of all related articles.
Outlook For 2025
We’ll assume Parsons plays for Dallas in 2025, especially since he’s under contract for the year at $24 million.
We’ll also assume he won’t holdout if the extension talks fall to produce a new contract.
With those assumptions in place, Parsons should be in line to have another strong year. Although it will be interesting to see how he fares under his third defensive coordinator.
Both Dan Quinn and Mike Zimmer had Parsons moving all over the front seven to attack the opposing offense.
Would Matt Eberflus continue to do so? Or, would Parsons be more of a pure linebacker in 2025 with Marshawn Kneeland and Sam Williams – or possibly DeMarcus Lawrence – on the edges?
A lot of that remains to be seen.
But the one certainty is: Parsons will probably still put up the kind of numbers he put up over his first three seasons if he plays a full schedule.
He’s really that good. Dallas will need him to be all of that and more this fall.
Long-Term Outlook
Without an extension, Parsons becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2025 season.
So it almost seems a lock that the Cowboys will get an extension done with him. Especially with the recent announcement of a higher salary cap in 2025.
Doubly so if Dallas frees up some cap space by restructuring Prescott’s murderous cap hit of nearly $90 million in 2025.
Which means Parsons should be in a Cowboys uniform for the rest of the decade.
Unless…
Yes, there have been reports that the Cowboys could trade Parsons away. I even mentioned it prior to last season as part of a post on which two of the Cowboys three stars should stay and which one should be traded.
Parsons would command the biggest return in a trade. That was true last year and is still true this year.
Which is why a trade cannot be 100% ruled out.
The proviso for that post was based on Dallas not being able to afford to keep all three and still field a winning team.
The extra salary cap eases that issue somewhat. Again, there are some contracts that will need to be restructured.
But the pathway is open to keep Parsons, still pay him, and still add to the team in a way to make them competitive.
So, should the Cowboys trade Parsons?
The answer is no if, and only if, they intend to make strong, solid moves to make a legitimate run at the Super Bowl.
The answer is yes if the front office intends to do what they did last year in the offseason.
That comedy of errors led to a 7-10 finish. I’d rather see Parsons play for a serious contender than waste his career like so many other Cowboys greats have this century.
In the final analysis, yes, please keep Parsons in Dallas, Jerry Jones.
But give the man a fighting chance to get a ring.
He deserves it. And so do we.