Then you get situations where the star and the ownership group are on entirely different pages, and Jerry Jones ends up trading the best player on his roster to a bonafide Super Bowl contender.
So Micah Parsons got his record-setting contract, and got away from Jerry Jones’ lost promises? None of us, even Parsons himself can believe that Jones would decide to instead sew his own eyes closed, proverbially of course.
Parsons, 26, is already a four-time Pro Bowl selection, was the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, and a two-time first-team All-Pro (2021 & 2022). His 52.5 sacks since 2021 rank fifth among all NFL players, and three of those got contract extensions during the offseason.
Dallas sent three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark, a 2026 first-round pick, and a 2027 first-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for Parsons, shaking up the entire composition of the NFC North in one fell swoop. Parsons goes from a Dallas team picked by most to finish third in the NFC East, to a Packer squad that may have just overtaken the Detroit Lions for the best in the North. Green Bay then signed Parsons, who was a hold-in at Cowboy training camp, to a four-year, $188 million contract, worth $47 million average annual value (AAV). Parsons reportedly wanted to meet with Cowboy brass to discuss organizational leadership, but instead Jones only wanted to talk about a contract.
Is there any wonder why Mike McCarthy reportedly declined to discuss a contract extension after the end of the regular season in January? Good luck Brian Schottenheimer.
Is there any wonder why Mike McCarthy reportedly declined to discuss a contract extension after the end of the regular season in January? Good luck Brian Schottenheimer.
The deal makes Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, breaking the record set twice back in March. In January, Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett requested a trade, then signed a four-year, $160 million extension in March ($40 million AAV). Garrett leads the NFL with 60 sacks since 2021, and was the 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY).
Right behind Garrett is T.J. Watt of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. Watt has 58.5 sacks, and is a three-time NFL sack leader. Watt, the 2021 DPOY, signed a three-year, $123 million extension with the Steelers, putting him $1 million AAV over Garrett, showing just how petty a younger brother he truly is. Watt did not shy away from complaining to every publication in the country that he should have won DPOY in 2023 instead of Garrett, and decided to one-up the elder statesman within the AFC North.
Another storyline in the AFC North involved the Cincinnati Bengals signing many of their skill position players on offense to large contract extensions, but left star defensive end Trey Hendrickson without a contract. Hendrickson, 30, was a first-team All Pro in 2024, and his 57 sacks rank third since Parsons came into the league. After playing last year on a one-year extension for $21 million, the Bengals finally got Hendrickson into the fold with another one year deal, worth $29 million this time. Hendrickson will be 31 by the end of the regular season, and wants another big year to earn quite possibly his last major contract, hopefully outside of Cincinnati, who has a history of not signing defensive players to massive deals, regardless of their talent level.
The two first round picks that Dallas picked up are likely to be at the back end of the first round, while their own picks should be in the top 12. Jones told the media that he feels that Dallas still has enough talent to contend for a playoff spot in 2025, coming off a 7-10 season in 2024. For what it may be worth, Jones sent a top-5 defensive player in the NFL packing, and then signed cornerback DeRon Bland to a four-year extension worth $92 million on Sunday afternoon. Bland set the NFL on fire in 2023 when he returned five of his nine interceptions for touchdowns, an NFL record, but played in only seven games last year, after surgery on his left foot from a stress reaction.
Dallas moved to second in the NFL, with $40.17 million in cap space, but this figure is fluid, as the financial breakdown of the deal has not yet been disclosed. If the deal balances out to $23 million AAV, this moves Dallas to 16th, just behind Cincinnati’s $17.43 million. Green Bay sits 19th at $14.39 million. So the Packers give up a Pro Bowler for a better one, two years of back-end first round picks, and still have just $3.04 million less to work with than Dallas?
This is just another nail in the coffin as to why Dallas is 5-13 in the playoffs since their Super Bowl 30 win over Pittsburgh in 1995.
Dallas now has three picks likely to be in the top 50 the next two seasons, but not a single NFL fan would trust Jerry Jones with those picks, regardless of how much vitriol you may have against the franchise. The Cowboys are the most valuable professional sports franchise on the planet, valued by Forbes Magazine in December 2024 at $10.1 billion. The NBA’s Golden State Warriors are second at $8.8 billion. Take a look at the number for Dallas again…$10.1 billion. Not even the New York Yankees are in the top three. The Yankees, North America’s other most bandwagoned franchise, are valued at $7.55 billion, placing them fourth.
Keeping the Cowboys valuable has never been Jones’ issue. Keeping them relevant on the field sure is.
-JC24