Cowboys news: Latest on Micah Parsons trade request

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Micah Parsons requests trade, drawing line in the sand with Dallas Cowboys – Joseph Hoyt, Dallas Morning News

The All-Pro pass rusher wants out of Dallas.

Negotiations between the Cowboys and star pass rusher Micah Parsons have sparked mutual frustration. They hadn’t sparked a line in the sand, however.

Until Friday.

That’s when Parsons requested a trade from the Cowboys. He announced the news on social media but specifically said his request was made to Cowboys co-owner Stephen Jones.

“Up to today the team has not had a single conversation with my agent about a contract,” Parsons wrote. “Not one demand has been made by my agent about money, years or anything else. Still I stayed quiet but again after repeated shots at myself and all the narratives I have made a tough decision I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys. My trade request has been submitted to Stephen Jones personally.”

Stephen Jones had no comment about the news when asked by The Dallas Morning News. Calls to Parsons and his agent, David Mulugheta, were not returned.

Dallas Cowboys players show support for Micah Parsons amid star’s trade request – The Athletic Staff

The Cowboys players are in unison in backing Micah Parsons.

Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons publicly requested a trade on Friday and voiced frustrations with how the franchise has handled his contract negotiations.

“Unfortunately I no longer want to be here,” Parsons wrote in a post to his X account. “I no long want to be held to close door negotiations without my agent present. I no longer want shots taken at me for getting injured while laying it on the line for the organization our fans and my teammates. I no longer want narratives created and spread to the media about me.”

While Parsons may be at odds with the Cowboys’ front office, the Dallas locker room has loudly shown it’s with him, as several of his teammates took to social media to show support for the perennial Pro Bowler.

In a show of support, several players changed their profile pictures on X to photos of Parsons.

Others, like CeeDee Lamb, bluntly called for Parsons to receive a new deal.

“Never fails dawg,” Lamb wrote in a post on X. “Just pay the man what you owe em. No need for the extra curricular.”

Lamb was in a similar situation before the 2024 season, as he held out of training camp while negotiating his contract extension.

Parsons has been present at Cowboys training camp but has not participated in drills or workouts.

In his message posted Friday, Parsons said he offered to renegotiate his contract earlier this year despite his agent advising him to wait until other players at his position got new deals with the hope of landing a larger sum, but that the Cowboys were not receptive.

Micah Parsons requests trade from Cowboys amid contract standoff – Jon Machota, Dianna Russini, The Athletic

It takes two to tango.

Among the key issues: Parsons said he spoke directly with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in March. The team believed those conversations were negotiations and that it had a deal, multiple league sources said.

But Parsons believed the talks were just conversations, writing that he told the Cowboys that his agent would reach out, “thinking this would get things done.” When Parsons’ agent attempted to start negotiations, Parsons wrote, the Cowboys declined to engage with him and told the pass rusher that they believed they already had a deal.

Now, the team is refusing to engage with his agent at all, Parsons wrote, creating a tense standoff amid increasing friction.

Micah Parsons contract dispute timeline: Why Cowboys star’s frustration boiled over after failed offseason negotiations – Chris Cwik, Yahoo Sports

The business ways of the Cowboys keep causing unnecessary issues.

How, exactly, did things reach this point? Here’s a rough timeline of Parsons’ failed negotiations with the Cowboys.

Before 2024 season: Micah Parsons reaches out about extension

In Friday’s statement, Parsons said contract negotiations stretched back to before the 2024 NFL season. He said that was the first time his agent reached out to the team about a new deal for the star pass rusher.

At the time, the Cowboys reportedly told Parsons they didn’t want to start contract talks at that point. Parsons said he was fine with that decision and turned his focus to the 2024 season.

Parsons was limited to 13 games in 2024 due to an ankle injury, but turned in another excellent season. He racked up 12 sacks and 23 quarterback hits despite missing time. That performance earned Parsons his four-straight trip to the Pro Bowl.

After 2024 season: Micah Parsons reaches out to Cowboys again

At the end of the 2024 NFL season, Parsons said he told his agent to reach out to the Cowboys to negotiate a new contract. Parsons’ agent advised Parsons to wait until other defensive stars signed new contracts, as that would likely raise his asking price.

Parsons said he knew he would leave money on the table, but told his agent to reach out to the team anyway. Parsons claimed the team did not respond to his agent’s requests at the time.

Jerry Jones is clear villain of Micah Parsons contract debacle – Matt Galatzan, Dallas Cowboys on SI

It all starts with the people running the organization.

In what has now become typical Dallas Cowboys fashion, team owner Jerry Jones has created a disaster within his own franchise.

Only this time it may have just cost the team their best player.

Following a lengthy contract dispute that has expanded for over a year now, Cowboys superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons has officially requested a trade from the team. To make things worse, it is a situation that could have easily been avoided had Jones and his son, COO Stephen Jones, simply negotiated his extension like a normal NFL franchise.

But now, it might be too late, and if it is, there will be no one to blame but Jerry and Stephen themselves.

To understand where the issues began with Parsons and the Cowboys, all you need to do is go back to the last two star-level deals that the Joneses attempted to negotiate – Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.

In each of those scenarios, Jerry and Stephen waited far too long to begin productive contract negotiations with each player, causing friction within the organization. And by the time deals were struck, the price was driven up to albatross-type numbers, with Prescott becoming the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, despite a history of injuries and failure in postseason play, and Lamb one of the highest-paid players at his position in the league.

In other words, had the Cowboys just approached things as a normal franchise, and agreed to a deal on a proper timeline, not only could they have saved themselves millions upon millions of dollars, but avoided the bevy of negative media attention and the team friction behind closed doors.

Cowboys to sign veteran OL La’el Collins after successful workout – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com

Dallas gets much-needed offensive line depth by bringing back the former undrafted free agent.

After a successful workout on Friday morning, the Cowboys are expected to sign veteran offensive lineman La’el Collins, who will return for another stint in Dallas.

Collins announced his imminent return on social media, with a post saying “I’m back” and “Geaux Time!”

The deal is not official yet, but is expected to be completed by Saturday. In order to officially bring Collins on, the Cowboys will have to make a corresponding roster move which has yet to be determined.

Collins, 32, last played in 2022 for the Cincinnati Bengals where he started all 15 games at right tackle. In Week 16 of that season, he suffered a torn ACL and MCL injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season and put him on PUP in 2023 before the Bengals released him in September of that year.

The former undrafted free agent out of LSU was a starter at right tackle for the Cowboys from 2015-21, part of one of the most iconic Cowboys offensive lines in recent history which featured the likes of Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Travis Frederick amongst others.