The latest Dallas Cowboys training camp news is here.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says there’s ‘nothing new’ in Micah Parsons contract talks – Associated Press, NFL.com
In this case, no news is not necessarily good news, as the Cowboys refuse to learn the lesson of what happens when waiting to pay top players.
With his player personnel duties seemingly not changing anytime soon, Jones remains focused on how to get the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl. That seems unlikely to happen anytime soon without a happy, healthy and productive Micah Parsons in the fold, and the star defender’s contract dispute was primary topic of discussion Monday before the start of training camp.
“There’s nothing new about what we’re talking about here today relative to contracts. That’s been going on a long time now,” Jones said.
“If you say, well, if you don’t get him in you’re going to lose the first two games, then go on to win the Super Bowl, well, we’ll take that,” he continued, referencing running back Emmitt Smith’s 1993 holdout.
There were no updates on Parsons’ on-field status from Jones, executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones or new coach Brian Schottenheimer ahead of the team’s annual, nearly monthlong stop in Ventura County. It’s the second straight offseason where financial dealings with standout players risk overshadowing the Cowboys’ football preparations.
Jerry Jones’ training camp comments on contract negotiations prove Cowboys still don’t get it – David Howman, Blogging The Boys
A drama-free start to Cowboys camp in Oxnard will have to wait yet another year, as heated contract talks are once again the opening headline.
For Jones, he feels entitled to have his players make as little money as possible for as long as possible so he can (theoretically) spend more money on more players.
Just like the Cowboys did when Dak Prescott was on a fourth-round rookie salary for four years and decided they needed to cut Dez Bryant because they could get by with Deonte Thompson. Right?
Jones believes in the player essentially serving out the entirety of their contract before getting a new one, which is how things were done back in the 90’s (an era he can’t stop talking about) but now how they’re done in 2025.
It’s why Jerry and Stephen are comfortable with taking so long to pay their players; philosophically, they don’t seem to believe they even should be extending their players as soon as possible. Jones went on to specifically admit his non-belief in the basic concept of inflation with regards to the football market.
There’s a lot of reasons why this whole business of thinking “well, my goodness, it’s pretty obvious to me everything goes up, so why don’t you catch it when it’s low?” Have you ever thought that when it’s low, they’re counting on it going up? And those are the numbers coming out? Not the ones that are going on right then. Have you ever thought about that?
I’d say ninety percent of the time they’re not dealing with you in those numbers today, they’re dealing with projected numbers which, honestly, usually have more fluff than reality. They’ve usually got an expectation that those numbers are going to be higher than they are.
What Jones is more or less arguing here is that players are negotiating with the belief that the market is rising and, therefore, they should be paid more relative to the market. Not unlike the cost of living adjustments that are present in most day-job compensation plans, which makes sense.
Instead, Jones believes that these players who see a rising market are actually just looking at pie in the sky numbers, and that Jones is savvy enough to know that he can just wait and get these players inked to a cheaper deal once those numbers are exposed for being said pie in said sky.
The problem is that second part never happens, because he is wrong.
Jerry Jones ‘Not the least concerned’ on contract talks, takes shot at Parsons, Prescott – Todd Brock, The Cowboys Wire
The drama did not nearly stop with just Micah Parsons, as even Dak Prescott and others were looped in as well.
Parsons, who has made the Pro Bowl in all four of his seasons thus far, is widely expected to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL at some point. Many thought that point would have already come by now, as the 26-year-old has made no bones about wanting to get a deal done earlier rather than later.
But such is not the way the Cowboys like to do business.
“I am not the least concerned about having any dangling participles out here on a contract,” Jerry said, using a somewhat out-of-place grammar reference to make his point.
While Cowboys fans would have liked the Ts to have been crossed and the Is to have been dotted long ago for the best defender in the game, the Cowboys owner maintains that he’s not the least bit frustrated that Parsons isn’t locked up to a long-term pact.
“Not at all,” he explained, flashing back to times it has all worked out in the past between the club and holdout stars. “Two years ago we were here, and I think Zack Martin wasn’t here, and you had a situation although he had a contract. You work through that.”
Micah Parsons sends loud and clear message to Matt Eberflus right before camp – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
On the football side of things, there is the fact Micah Parsons is starting his third straight season with a new defensive coordinator and scheme, this time former Cowboys LB coach Matt Eberflus.
Speaking on behalf of Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu in NFL Network’s Top 100 countdown, Parsons praised Dan Quinn’s system and how it allowed him to move around the line of scrimmage.
“That Dan Quinn system, I miss them days being off the ball and you get them one-on-ones on the back …,” Parsons said.
Luvu is a traditional off-ball linebacker who excels at rushing the passer. He might be the best pass-rushing linebacker in football. Because of that, Quinn can get more creative with Luvu relative to Parsons, who has transitioned to a full-time EDGE the last three seasons.
Luvu reaped the benefits of Quinn’s system en route to being named a second-team All-Pro in his first year with the Commanders.
It is clear that Parsons wants to be move around more than he was under Mike Zimmer. Parsons played just 38 snaps in the box last season compared to 588 outside the opposing offensive tackle, per Pro Football Focus. He played 108 snaps in the box under Quinn in 2023. While Parsons missed four games with a high-ankle sprain last year, his role under Zimmer was crystal clear.
It is worth noting that Parsons played more snaps lined up as a DT under Zimmer (17) than Quinn in 2023 (12), but the above clip shows how much he enjoys playing off the ball.
Practicing or not, Schotty expects Micah to “work every day” – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
If there’s one thing the Cowboys are serious about right now, it’s building a great culture, and they expect Parsons to be a big part of it still.
Parsons is here, so he won’t be subject to a fine, obviously, ending any speculation of a holdout, as we’ve seen the last two years with Zack Martin (2023) and CeeDee Lamb (2024), but the Cowboys are anticipating a chance for a “hold-in” situation, meaning Parsons could be sitting out of practices and/or meetings as contract talks continue for a new deal.
First-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer was asked specifically what will happen if Micah doesn’t indeed practice with the team.
“You work every day. However this thing plays out, it’s going to play out,” Schottenheimer said. “The fact that Micah is here, he’s talked all off-season about wanting to take more of a leadership role. He’s talked about wanting to be great. We know he’s a great player and again, I think we’re excited he’s here. There’s a lot of ways to get this thing gone. But like we’ve said, we’re committed to having him take that next step, not just as a player, but as a leader.”
Parsons was one of the first calls Schottenheimer made when he became the head coach and it was time to begin the team’s off-season program. He didn’t ask Parsons to attend every day of the “voluntary” OTA practices, but he did ask him to have some kind of presence, knowing just how important that would be for the rest of the players.
Schottenheimer said he has kept up “good communication” with Parsons via text messages and calls.
And make no mistake, whether he’s practicing fully or not, Parsons will probably be right in the middle of Schottenheimer’s “compete every day” mantra.
Dallas Cowboys injury tracker: Multiple high-profile players kick off training camp on injured list but there’s good news, too – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports
Elsewhere on the Cowboys defense, they will be looking for quality depth options while dealing with some lingering injuries, primarily at cornerback.
Ahead of Tuesday’s opening practice, the team designated three players to open camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, per multiple reports: CB Trevon Diggs, LB DeMarvion Overshown, and CB Josh Butler.
Additionally, third-round rookie cornerback Shavon Revel was placed on the non-football injury list.
Though Overshown is expected to miss most of the regular season, opening training camp on PUP isn’t all bad news for Diggs and Butler.
The timing places them on the Active/PUP list, and means they can be activated at any point during training camp. In contrast, landing on Reserve/PUP during training camp means the player must miss a minimum of four games of the regular season.
So while they’ll be working to the side early in camp, they could still rejoin team’s practices before the end of training camp and the preseason. The same applies for Revel. Earlier reports indicated the rookie will be ready to go at some point of camp.
