FRISCO, Texas — Needless to say, there's been a lot already said as contract negotiations get underway this offseason between the Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons. While the two sides continue to work toward what will likely be a record-setting contract extension, there have been substantive talks as the team prepares for the 2025 NFL Draft, but nothing is near being finalized as of yet.
When asked about the status of the dialogue on Tuesday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones revealed the Cowboys have made an offer of some sort that includes a dollar amount and multi-year term, but did not disclose those exact terms.
That does show there has been traction, though, and mostly between the Cowboys' front office and David Mulugheta, Parsons' agent, an assumption gleaned from the fact Parsons — speaking from the 2025 Reliant Home Run Derby only a few hours later — noted he's not involved in the negotiations at this point, and that his agent would call him "once the deal is done".
The three-time All-Pro pass rusher opened up about that and much more after helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities by stepping up to the plate at Roughriders Stadium in Frisco; and continues to look forward to doing that exact thing for the Cowboys going forward:
Stepping up to the proverbial plate.
On his decision to report to voluntary OTAs:
"Everyone's got a different perspective but, talking to Schotty, and [him] telling me how important it is for me to be there, and what he's trying to prove and show to the team — I just thought it was important. One, for me and my relationship with our new head coach to understand where he's coming from and help him in any way I can to go on this run. Schotty's showed up to my event, and Schotty's been around to try and build relationships. So I feel like we're at the point where if he asks her for me to come in for the leadership aspect, and to be around the guys, and show face, that's something I wanna do for my coach."
"I mean, for me, it's not really like walking the walk. It's just me. Like I always said, I've wanted to be a Cowboy and being here,I feel like it's really just being me. I've been as real as possible since I've been here."
On the importance of getting a new deal done by training camp:
"It's extremely important. I mean, you really see a lot of players struggle when guys aren't participating in camp and they're getting off to slow starts. I don't wanna get off to a slow start. I wanna hit the ground running and establish ourselves in this league and get some wins early in the season, and be in rhythm. It's gonna be extremely important for me to get going and lead these guys."
On if his stance has changed regarding not needing to be the $40 million Man:
"That's the challenging part, is getting fully what you're worth, but I don't really think it's about the dollar amount. I think it's about how someone thinks of you. It's only about how much someone thinks you're worth, you know?"
On if he'll report to training camp if a new deal isn't finalized:
"I'll still be around. For me, I've still gotta learn a playbook and I'm not so much of an iPad person where I can just keep learning. I've gotta walk through it. Maybe it's so much I might not be on the field part of it, but I'll be there learning, so that way I'm at least getting prepared to be ready for Week 1."
On why he fired back at DeMarcus Lawrence's viral comments:
"Man, for me it's all about setting a tone about what the locker room is. We ain't gonna put up with [anything]. We ain't gonna tolerate the dumb stuff that was going on. Like I said, it's a new regime and a new culture.
"I'm not saying that other guys weren't culture builders, but some things are just tired, you know what I mean? Obviously, if something ain't working, it's good that you've got new guys to fix it. I'm just happy that me, CeeDee [Lamb] and Dak [Prescott] — Dak's kind of been through two generations — but it's just a new regime. Guys are gonna get closer. We're gonna relate.
"It's just kind of hard when you've got a bunch of guys that are here and they're older, you know what I mean? They're more of your highest paid players, and it's harder to get that relationship but, now, we've all come in together and established that relationship. We're all around the same age, and we all hang out way more so, like you saw, we were working out together.
"That's not something that I've seen or been a part of here in the past unless you went to OTAs. So, just things like that — me and them working out together, boxing together — things that we're gonna start building the camaraderie."
