PALM BEACH, Florida – There was a good news/weird news mix on the Micah Parsons money meter watch coming from Jerry Jones on Tuesday at the NFL league meetings.
The good news for Parsons and the legion of championship-starved Dallas Cowboys fans: Jones is willing to offer a megabucks contract that would make the star edge rusher the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history with a deal in excess of $40 mil per year.
Word of Jones’ offer for a much-anticipated extension for the linchpin of Dallas’ defense, a significant breakthrough in stagnant negotiations, was first reported by Clarence Hill of All City DLLS. It comes on the heels of recent deals for Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett and then Ja’Marr Chase that successively raised the bar on the “highest-paid non-quarterback” distinction. And Parsons, 25, is certainly worthy, supported by the four Pro Bowl selections and four double-digit sack seasons (52 ½ overall) in four seasons.
During a mid-day break, Jones confirmed this apparent progress to a small media group that included USA TODAY Sports.
Yet the flamboyant Dallas Cowboys owner also raised eyebrows with the weird news.
Jones has dealt directly with Parsons in discussing “every issue in the room,” as he put it, while bypassing David Mulugheta, one of the most respected agents in the NFL universe.
“The agent is not a factor here,” Jones said. “And I don’t know his name. I’m not trying to demean him in any way, but this isn’t about the agent. The agent doesn’t have one thing to do with what we’re doing when we get on a football field as a team. Micah does. To the degree I’m involved, I do.
“I’m not demeaning the agent. I’m saying anybody can do this. I mean, talk directly to the player. Frankly, most people who negotiate with me will tell you that they’re better off negotiating with me rather than anybody else.”
Still, even with the massive deal he’s seeking to close with Parsons, the optics are sideways. Jones contended that he’s not demeaning Mulugheta while doing exactly that. To not even know the name of the agent for your star pass-rusher?
That’s a straight diss, Jerry.
Jones mentioned that he is prone to deal directly with players, at least to some extent, dropping the names of Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders (who were represented by the late, great Eugene Parker), Jason Witten and Tony Romo. In striking a deal last year that made Dak Prescott the NFL’s highest-paid player with a 4-year, $240 million extension averaging $60 million, Jones maintained that he was directly involved with the quarterback in addition to the work of agent Todd France.
And hey, some players, including Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens’ two-time MVP, don’t even use an agent.
But Parsons does. To not even acknowledge his name? Hmmm. That seems like something out of the horror stories from negotiations from decades ago, when teams ruled with an iron fist in contract talks. In this day and age of big NFL business, it’s way more common than not – and advisable — for a star player to enlist professional advisors.
Mulugheta, contacted by USA TODAY Sports, declined to comment.
Yet Parsons left little doubt on this particular component of getting a new deal, posting his sentiments on social media shortly after Jones’ comments about Mulugheta circulated.
“David is the best and I will not be doing any deal without David Mulugheta involved,” Parsons posted on X. “Like anyone with good sense I hired experts for a reason. There is no one I trust more when it comes to negotiating contracts than David! There will be no backdoors in this contract negotiation.”
Good, that Parsons quickly responded publicly to Jones and made it clear that to ultimately strike a deal, Jones will have to go through Mulugheta. You’d think that he would have already expressed that to Jones as they discussed “every issue in the room.”
When Jones was asked whether Parsons asked him to talk to Mulugheta, the team owner hemmed and hawed.
“Let’s see,” Jones said, after an extended pause. “After we were through, he called Stephen.”
Stephen Jones, Jerry’s oldest son, is the executive vice president and right-hand man involved in all of the Cowboys’ major decisions. Parsons undoubtedly told the Cowboys that a deal wouldn’t be done without Mulugheta’s involvement…and approval.
Yet Jerry added, “I’ve got the checkbook. So, all the fiddling around doesn’t make any difference.”
Ah, here’s to another layer of Cowboys drama.
Jones said that it was about a month ago when Parsons asked for his cellphone number, so that he could speak with the team’s owner (and GM) at any time. That was proactive enough, given that the prospect of a huge extension for Parsons has been on the horizon for more than a year – the next one after star wideout Cee Dee Lamb and Prescott were secured with long-term pacts.
Yet in icing out Parsons’ agent, the perception that Jones – a self-made billionaire – would create a negotiating advantage is hardly a stretch. And now it’s fair to wonder whether ego will become a factor, a year after the negotiations for Prescott and Lamb dragged on over the course of the entire offseason.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is more than happy to wait for quarterback Aaron Rodgers
Of course, Jones has a different view. In 1989, he paid a record $150 million to purchase the Cowboys prompting some people, he recalled Tuesday, to consider him an idiot.
Now the Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise in the world, according to Forbes, with a valuation of $10.1 billion.
“Most everything I’ve had success with, I’ve overpaid for,” Jones said.
In Parsons’ case, the price just keeps going up. The deals for Crosby (3 years, $106.5 million), Garrett (4 years, $160 million) and Chase (4 years, $161 million) ensured that.
Or so it seems.
“I’ve never looked, when acquiring a financial decision, I’ve never looked at how other people are paying because more often than not, they’re not comparable situations,” Jones said. “They just happen to fit the timing and maybe happen to fit the position. What I do is what fits me and what fits the circumstances.”
Given the numbers that are coming in the projected deal for Parsons, which reflects a lot of respect for the talent provided by one of the NFL’s best players.
Yet the devil sure is working through some details.
Follow Jarrett Bell on social media: @JarrettBell