It’s nearing the end of the 2024 regular season, and there is a laundry list of items that teams go through to start preparing for next season. The Dallas Cowboys have less than a 1% chance of making it to the postseason, so that preparation can be crossed off the list.
One of the listed items for team front offices is to evaluate talent and see if there are any players who deserve an early extension. If you ask me, there are a handful of players that I would love to see the Cowboys lock up for the future before they hit unrestricted free agency.
There are plenty of options to choose from because the Cowboys have a whopping 25 players on expiring contracts. I expect only a handful of those players will be re-signed, and I hope that any or all of the following players will return:
- DE Chauncey Golston
- CB Jourdan Lewis
- DE DeMarcus Lawrence
- DT Osa Odighizuwa
It’s not a coincidence that they are all on defense. This defense has played well over the past few years, and has started to put it all together under Mike Zimmer’s late this season. Another player is not on an expiring contract, but I would like the Cowboys to sign him to a new contract as soon as possible.
DE Micah Parsons’ 5th-year option on his rookie contract has been activated, and it will pay him a guaranteed amount of just over $24 million. The Cowboys can lock up their defensive star and make room in the salary cap to sign a few others.
Parsons has a surprising stance on his looming contract negotiations, and expanded on it when asked how he expects negotiations to play out.
Micah Parsons, General Manager?
Players were made available to the media on Thursday afternoon, and Micah Parsons was asked about the future contract negotiations, and how he sees them playing out. He had an interesting response to the question presented by The Athletic’s Saad Yousuf.
I’m going to try and work with them (Dallas Cowboys) as much as possible to attack free agency. I want to be back with this team. To me, this offseason, I want to be here. I want to get these guys right. I want to take big steps, so hopeful, it can be done sooner than later.
Oh Micah, please prepare to be disappointed. As fans, we clamor for players we want in free agency all the time, and believe it or not, sometimes the answers are so obvious that we all see what needs to be done, but Jerry Jones won’t do it.
Parsons attempting to assist in free agent acquisitions would be an amazing thing, but even if he records 20 sacks per season until his career is over, he still won’t have enough weight to throw at the front office to get them to budge. This team makes frugal free agent acquisitions, and that’s not likely to change.
No $40 Million Man?
The Jones’ have mentioned several times how they are dreading the contract negotiations with Parsons, who is widely considered the best pass rusher in the NFL, or at least in the top three. $40 million per year was thrown out just as a number, but it has somehow stuck as the number Parsons is going to require on the open market.
He thinks differently.
I don’t need $40 million. I need to be somewhere I can have a lake house. It could be anywhere. It could be a lake house in Lake Tahoe, you don’t know.
I can still feel the subtle jab at the front office that it’s not about money for him. He wants a lake house, and one of the best pass-rushers in the world can get whatever he wants. San Francisco DE Nick Bosa is currently the highest-paid defensive player at $34 million per season, and it doesn’t appear too important to Micah to surpass that. It remains to be seen.