Brian Schottenheimer ‘expects’ Micah Parsons at mandatory minicamp next week.
You should be very used to this by now. The Dallas Cowboys are set to hold a mandatory minicamp next week and we are all on a specific alert with regards to it, one that we are well-versed in thanks to the last few years.
Speaking at OTAs on Tuesday, a portion of the offseason that is voluntary, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer discussed a player not in attendance, Micah Parsons.
Parsons, who has had one of the greatest starts to a pass rusher’s career through four seasons, has been in the middle of contract negotiations with the Cowboys over the entire offseason (as always it is important to note that he was first eligible for a new deal with Dallas last offseason, but the front office was busy tending to other contractual matters they had begun procrastinating on earlier in CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott). To date there has yet to be an indication or note from Parsons himself that his absence from voluntary OTAs is contract-related and not simply because of a general choice.
But that choice no longer becomes available to Parsons next week as the minicamp is mandatory. Schottenheimer said on Tuesday that he expects Parsons to be in attendance and whether or not he is will be the first real indication as to where things stand on the negotiations between the player and front office.
Brian Schottenheimer on if he expects Micah Parsons to be in the building for mandatory minicamp next week:
“I would assume… I expect that he would be here.”
Schottenheimer said he has had good conversations with Parsons, which is why he expects he’ll be present.
— Saad Yousuf (@SaadYousuf126) June 3, 2025
The Cowboys hold the right to fine Parsons if he is absent from the team’s mandatory minicamp, but obviously nobody wants the situation to reach a point where that decision has to be made.
Lamb chose to sit out last year until he got the deal he was looking for, a matter that did not get resolved until after the team finished their Oxnard portion of training camp. Prescott participated in all offseason activities and received his deal on the day that the season started for the Cowboys. Ultimately each player does what they think is best for them.
Time will tell whether or not Parsons is in attendance because while Schottenheimer can offer his opinion, a well-educated one obviously, the discussions that Parsons and his representation are having are not with the coaching staff but with the front office.
