The Dallas Cowboys have dominated headlines over the course of the offseason, specifically during the past month or so, with the results of the negotiations so far between Jerry Jones and LB Micah Parsons. Now, following the latest developments this week, ESPN’s Dan Graziano is asking somebody in the organization to grow up with this.
During ‘Get Up’ on Friday, Graziano was part of several segments discussing Dallas, specifically following comments by Jones in interviews with FOX News, with Michael Irvin as well as one dropping later today with Stephen A. Smith. Still, at this point, Graziano criticized both sides for how they’ve acted on this matter with Parsons on the field at training camp, Jones in the front office, and then others involved with the Cowboys for not stepping up to handle this in a different way.
“Look, we’re in a situation here where, honestly, like, both sides are acting in a way that’s not constructive to get something done,” said Graziano. “You see Micah coming out at practice. One day, he’s in uniform. One day, he’s not. One day, he doesn’t have shoes on. Like, it’s like a silent protest kind of thing.”
“Someone has got to say, ‘Alright, c’mon. Like, let’s stop being foolish here’ because, you know, that’s the only way it’s going to change,” Graziano said. “Right now, if Jerry and the agent won’t engage, something has got to change that. Or else, you know?”
While in attendance at camp, Parsons remains held out in search of a contract extension or, if not, a trade after having officially requested one back on August 1st. Jones then also remains firm on the details of what he believes took place, with the star linebacker apparently now refusing what was what he felt was agreed upon terms. That’s led to this standoff, with neither side seeming as though they’ll be budging at the moment anytime soon with their season set to start in less than two weeks.
This is obviously a big deal for both sides as Parsons wants to get paid and the Cowboys want to keep him moving forward. However, at this point of the ‘negotiations’, assuming you could call it that, Graziano says someone, whether Jones, Parsons, or otherwise in Dallas, is going to have to be a bigger person in all this.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano dished a bit on Micah Parsons’ contract standoff during an appearance on ‘Get Up’ on Friday. Is a resolution on the horizon? At the moment, Graziano believes Jerry Jones and the rest of the Cowboys brass are banking on Parsons’ love for football being the reason he takes the field, because there’s no guarantee they’ll agree to a new contract before the opener against the Philadelphia Eagles September 4th.
“The way to look at this at this point is that Micah has a decision to make,” Graziano stated. “He could show up and practice next week, play in the game, and play on his current contract — that’s going to pay him almost $22 million this year. And then the threat of the franchise tag looms next spring. He could call his agent and say, ‘You know what? We’re beaten. Let’s just do it. Take it, go, go.’ I mean, again, these are the options available to him.
“He could sit out the game. Now, that’s the key — because until he actually does that, you can threaten to sit out, but until you do it, the other side has no real reason to believe you will. So it’s up to Micah.”
“At this point, I think what the Cowboys — with Brian Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones — are counting on is that Micah loves to play football. That he doesn’t want to walk into his locker room and have to say to his teammates, ‘Good luck against the Eagles, guys.’ And that he’ll show up and play — whether that’s on a new contract done on Jerry’s terms or on the current contract he’s signed through 2025. I don’t know.
“If Micah doesn’t show up and play, then I think the leverage starts to shift toward him a little bit. Because at that point, the Cowboys have to take it seriously. Now, he can’t sit out the season, because if he does, the contract would toll, and he’d be in the same position next year. But he could sit out the first 11 weeks and then show up, right? So there are options available to him. The question is: which one is he going to take?”
