OXNARD, Calif. — The entire day began quietly, until it wasn’t.
During a Friday morning news conference with cornerback Kaiir Elam at the Cowboys training camp practice facility, star pass rusher Micah Parsons posted a statement requesting a trade on the social media platform X.
Elam, who just met Parsons this summer after his trade from Buffalo, answered a few questions about his teammate, now locked into an increasingly bitter contract dispute with the Cowboys.
“I didn’t know anything about that to be honest with you,” Elam said when asked about Parsons’ trade request. “Thanks for the information. I don’t have no comment about that. Honestly, you want the best for the team. And Micah’s been a great dude since I’ve been here and I love watching him play when I was not on this team. Guys are going to do what’s in their best interest.”
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Meanwhile, the people who prompted Parsons’ trade request were on the practice fields conducting football business.
Two offensive linemen were working out with the hopes of getting signed. One was La’el Collins, a former Cowboys player and close friend of quarterback Dak Prescott.
And while the football world — perhaps the sports world — reacted to the news of Parsons’ trade request, the Cowboys’ front office acted calmly.
Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ co-owner and executive vice president, waved to a Dallas Morning News reporter and offered a “no comment” about Parsons.
The only people Jones talked with were members of the Cowboys front office and coach Brian Schottenheimer. After the workouts, Schottenheimer left to conduct more football business in his hotel suite and meeting rooms. Jones stayed with members of the front office and got on the phone.
Maybe he was talking to his wife?
Maybe he was talking to his dad, team owner Jerry Jones?
Maybe he was talking to David Mulugheta, Parsons’ agent?
Maybe Jones was talking to Parsons?
We may never know.
One thing Stephen Jones seemed to be was calm. After every practice, Jones gets in his steps. He walks around the two practice fields several times. We’re not sure if he’s pushing toward 10,000 steps in a day.
The Cowboys universe is projecting a calm presence this weekend while their star pass rusher is trying to burn everything down.
He wants to get paid. The team said he deserves to get paid.
Several of Parsons’ teammates, Trevon Diggs, DeMarvion Overshown and Juanyeh Thomas, changed their social media avatars to pictures of him in support.
CeeDee Lamb, who held out last summer to get a contract extension, responded on X, “Never fails dawg. Just pay the man what you owe em. No need for the extra curricular.”
The Cowboys and Parsons should get a handle on this. The sides haven’t spoken recently, with Jerry Jones believing a conversation with Parsons in the spring had secured a deal. While Parsons doesn’t believe this, he indicated to Jones the team needed to reach out to Mulugheta.
So now we have a trade request.
Two betting services had the odds on Parsons’ next destination ready to go by midday Friday. Bovada Sports and Bet Online had Las Vegas as the favorite. Bovada had Cleveland and the New York Jets tied with the second-best odds. Bet Online had Pittsburgh with the second-best chance, followed by the LA Chargers then the Jets.
Everyone is stepping up in this Parsons-Cowboys saga.
The next move in this saga should come Saturday, when the Cowboys hold their ninth practice of training camp. We’ll see if Parsons shows up to end his hold-in, where he reports to work but doesn’t practice, or if he starts a holdout. If that’s the case, then he’ll get fined $50,000 per day.
And that’s when the action really starts.
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