As of the first day of August, there remained no indication that the Dallas Cowboys and star pass-rusher Micah Parsons were close to coming to terms on a contract extension.
Parsons is in the final year of his rookie deal, so some understandably have wondered if he could follow in the footsteps of Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin and use a trade request as a negotiating tactic.
During Friday’s edition of the ESPN “Get Up” program, NFL insider Dan Graziano reported that he still believes “Parsons will be a Cowboy for a long time.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the two sides will come to terms on an agreement anytime soon.
“I don’t know, for a fact, that this contract gets done before [the] opening week of this season,” Graziano continued. “[The Cowboys] do have the franchise tag available to them for 2026 and 2027 if need be.”
Graziano mentioned that the Cowboys have a history of getting deals done later than fans would like.
Last summer, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb didn’t receive his four-year, $136M deal until after Dallas finished its final game of the preseason. The following month, the news that quarterback Dak Prescott had agreed to a four-year extension broke just hours before Dallas’ regular-season opener.
T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers reset the market for edge-rushers when he agreed to a three-year, $123M extension that included $108M guaranteed ahead of training camp. While it’s expected that Parsons would become the new highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL if he signs a deal this summer, it’s possible the two sides are waiting to see if Trey Hendrickson accepts an offer from the Cincinnati Bengals before September.
It’s unclear how, if at all, a Hendrickson deal would impact how much money Parsons hopes to make via his extension.
“There’s a chance that we could get into this season with Micah Parsons actually playing out the final year of his contract and confronting the possibility of a franchise tag next March,” Graziano continued.
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith recently attracted attention when he said Parsons should make it known he’s “willing to sit out the year” if he doesn’t receive his desired extension. Graziano noted that such a move isn’t “feasible” because Parsons’ current contract would toll, meaning he’d still have one season left on his deal in 2026.
Dallas opens the 2025 campaign with a prime-time matchup at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 4. It sounds like Parsons will be in the lineup for that contest even if he doesn’t sign an extension before that Thursday evening arrives.
