FRISCO, Texas — There’s a superb likelihood Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys wouldn’t have traded All-Professional edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Inexperienced Bay Packers on Thursday if Parsons had taken a web page out of quarterback Dak Prescott’s playbook.
The Cowboys proprietor and GM — who’s getting hammered for this commerce — admitted in a spontaneous press convention Thursday night time that future Dallas gamers ought to comply with Prescott’s lead after they’re searching for extensions. Parsons, who registered not less than 12 sacks in his first 4 seasons performed, didn’t get one — and it got here right down to techniques that Jones and his son, Stephen, have been soured by.
The magic bullet?
“Ask Dak,” Jerry Jones stated with a wry grin. “Highest-paid man in the NFL. There’s a lot of players that they could ask that have been paid around here. I’ll pay players…. We wanted to look and see if we could do what we did. That’s the benefits of the trade. Make no mistake about it, we all know we could have signed Micah, but we decided to go with the trade.”
Parsons is the primary participant since sacks grew to become a person statistic in 1982 to have 12 or extra sacks in every of his first 4 seasons (Reggie White did so in his first 4 seasons performed however not in his first 4 years within the league). Parsons’ 330 quarterback pressures since being drafted twelfth total in 2021 are tied for essentially the most within the league with Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders, in line with TruMedia. Parsons additionally leads the league with a 20.3% quarterback strain fee (minimal 1,000 move rushes) since 2021.
The 26-year-old ought to have been a slam dunk to get re-signed. These negotiations ought to have been a no brainer for Jones to get executed.
Micah Parsons, Packers’ best acquisition since Reggie White, ought to equally rework Inexperienced Bay protection
Zachary Pereles
The sticking level between the 2 sides centered round Jones’ and Parsons’ chats within the spring and the way the saga devolved into harm emotions. Parsons believed his talks have been casual with Jones when the 2 events have been throwing round completely different contract factors in dialog. Parsons then needed to usher in David Mulugheta, his agent, to finalize the deal, however that upset Jones tremendously. Within the proprietor’s thoughts, the negotiation had reached the end line. That led to the talks going radio silent.
“I really like Micah,” Jones stated. “I appreciate the four years we’ve had him here. He’s a great player. No question, I could have signed him in April,” Jerry Jones stated. … “This was by design. I did make Micah an offer and it wasn’t acceptable. I honored the fact that it wasn’t done how he wanted: through an agent.”
That’s the alternative of how Prescott approached each the four-year, $160 million extension he signed in 2021 and the four-year, $240 million extension he signed hours earlier than kickoff in Week 1 on the Cleveland Browns final season. The Jones household tried to speak numbers with Prescott, however he instantly pointed Jerry and Stephen Jones to name his agent, Todd France.
“I never engaged in [contract] numbers [with Jerry and Stephen Jones],” Prescott remembered earlier this month. “There was a lot of engagement, especially on this last one. The first one, maybe not so much of anything, but this last one, yeah there were definitely some talks. Definitely different talks, particularly with Stephen, and they were great talks. They were phenomenal talks. … They knew that I wouldn’t have those [numbers] conversations with them.”
Had Parsons executed that, these negotiations probably would have gone rather more easily, as Cowboys COO and EVP Stephen Jones additionally indicated. Parsons, going via his first contract negotiations post-rookie deal, merely didn’t know higher. That’s why he’s now a Inexperienced Bay Packer.
“We do have players that come in, and we totally respect it, that say, ‘I don’t feel comfortable talking about my contract. I’d like you to go through my agent.’ And we do that respectfully,” Stephen Jones stated. “I mean, you’re not required to come in and negotiate the contract yourself. All the ones we’ve done like that are those who request to come in and visit with Jerry or myself. That’s the only ones we’ve done that way.”
Dallas trades Micah Parsons: Full reax
Regardless of the Cowboys finally dropping Parsons over a communication breakdown by negotiating instantly with the All-Professional, the 82-year-old Jerry Jones doesn’t plan on altering his techniques. Future Dallas gamers beware: by no means discuss contract numbers with Jerry and Stephen Jones.
“I don’t think there’s any question,” Jerry Jones stated when requested if he’ll proceed providing to sidestep gamers’ brokers to instantly negotiate with gamers. “Once you are together, I’ve had hundreds of times and instances where literally hundreds over the last 35 years where the kinds of relationships I have with a player and the things we do, and that goes both ways. … That’s a natural thing to happen when you work together during times that bond you.”
