OXNARD, Calif. – One day after Cowboys All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons released a statement requesting a trade out of Dallas, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones made clear that in his eyes, this is a negotiation.
It's a negotiation that goes back to March, when Jones and Parsons met at the Big 12 football conference championship game and, in Jones' mind, came to an agreement. It was one that Jones believed others would think is more than expected.
"What y'all don't know is what I offered him," Jones said. "And it's a hell of a lot more than you think I did. That's what you don't know."
That offer sat on the table for a while, but it's no longer there.
"Micah took it off," Jones said of the offer. "He took it off. That's very important."
So, is Jones thinking about honoring Parsons' request?
"I'm not. The facts are that I think the world of Micah, and that's just a part of negotiation…" Jones said.
"I don't place that with any real seriousness, Micah's got a bad back. That's like being traded, we all weight it the same."
While Parsons' trade request sent a ripple through the fanbase and is unprecedented, Jones isn't detoured by it at all, and remains steadfast in his belief this is all part of the negotiation process.
"My point is, I reached. Make no mistake about it, I reached," Jones said. "Again, let's go back to this. This is a negotiation. Does it blow me up? Somebody to say 'Look, trade me,' that's just not a flare sign for me at all in any way. "
It's also not something that Jones hasn't heard of before, although there hasn't been a player of Parsons' caliber that's been as public as he has about his request to be dealt elsewhere.
"That's negotiation," Jones said. "I've heard that so many times in my 30 years in the NFL from not just players, but agents, of course we all understand contract, we're under contract, and that's what we're doing. We're looking at adjusting the contract, but we're under contract."
Jones made sure to remind everyone that he's not been one to shy away from large financial commitments to his players, citing recent examples from just one offseason ago.
"It seems like we forget that it's been less than a year, and I've paid the highest that's been paid in the NFL to Dak and I paid a big price for Lamb," Jones said. "Anybody that says I'm not interested in financially rewarding my players hasn't been looking at the tea leaves."
And so, the wait continues, as Jones has made clear he has no intention of trading Parsons, but also hasn't spoken to him since his trade request went public on Friday morning.
