OXNARD, Calif. — Once again the Cowboys have a prolonged contract dispute with a star player. This time it’s with Micah Parsons.
Dak Prescott understands it all too well.
He underwent two rounds of contract negotiations with the Cowboys, the last one ending on the morning of the 2024 season opener at Cleveland as Prescott had doubts it would get done.
On Thursday, Prescott offered his candid thoughts on contract talks with the Jones family and how, while things sometimes get intense, they get better once the deal is secured.
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Prescott signed a four-year, $240 million deal with an $80 million signing bonus. He has the highest-average salary for an NFL player at $60 million.
“It’s a business and they see things,” Prescott said. “They have to make decisions, you know, those are the same guys, the front office, they make the final decisions on all of us.”
One of the biggest issues with Parsons is the conversations he had with Jerry Jones this spring. Jones believes those talks led to an oral agreement. Parsons told Jones to contact his agent, David Mulugheta.
The Cowboys haven’t done so lately. The lack of progress in the talks has prompted Parsons to request a trade.
Prescott didn’t ask for a trade during his contract negotiations, which stalled at times. He said he might have thought about a trade if he was in a similar place as Parsons.
He also had conversations with the Joneses, but those came with a caveat.
“I never engaged in numbers,” he said. “Never engaged in numbers, but there was a lot of engagement, especially on this last one. The first [contract], maybe not so much of anything, but this last one, yeah, there was definitely some talks, definitely different talks, particularly with Stephen and they were great talks. They were phenomenal talks. Honestly, don’t know if I do re-sign if we don’t have those conversations. It was much more than it was the numbers. So that’s why those conversations were needed.”
Jerry Jones has a habit of engaging with players who are seeking new contracts to help start talks, finalize talks, or just see if things are going well. Some would say Jones shouldn’t do that because a team should speak with an agent to finalize any deals. Not calling Mulugheta gives the appearance that the Cowboys are trying to pull a fast one on Parsons.
However, the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement protects players from agreeing to deals without certified representation.
“At the end of the day, I’m a grown man and if another man wants to speak to me, I’m gonna speak to him, right?” Prescott said.
But, Prescott added: “I think you should trust your representation and that’s what they’re there for, simple as that. [I] don’t wanna talk about somebody else’s situation, but I just think you do have to trust representation and I think No. 11 is doing it.”
Contract talks with Prescott and the Joneses got intense, but, ultimately, everyone was happy after the deal was secured.
“It was over business,” Prescott said. “And so once that business still happens, like, you can move forward and you can understand and you can. It’s a lot of money, you know what I mean?”
After Thursday’s practice, cornerback Trevon Diggs had a conversation with Stephen Jones. The two men shook hands and smiled before going their separate ways.
Diggs is rehabbing from knee surgery and the Cowboys docked him $500,000 because, in their view, he didn’t work out enough in the offseason.
We can disagree but still be friends is basically the situation with Diggs and the Cowboys.
Parsons, at some point, will get there. For now, every development concerning him causes a stir.
For the first time in training camp, Parsons wasn’t on the practice field. During practice, Stephen Jones said he was on the property.
After practice, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Dallas Morning News that Parsons was receiving treatment for back tightness.
Jerry Jones has mocked Parsons’ claim of a back injury, and when previously asked head coach Brian Schottenheimer couldn’t say if his star pass rusher had gotten treatment.
As Jones has repeatedly said, he believes the trade request and the injury are negotiating ploys.
Meanwhile, Prescott watches the entire thing, offering support to Parsons via text messages.
“I got faith in the Joneses and his team as I do in Micah and his team,” Prescott said. “So that’s who I am, and that’s what I’m going to continue to believe and be optimistic, and 11 is a Cowboy.”
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