As the summer gets hotter, Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys still haven’t reached agreement on an extension, with the star defensive end extension-eligible and entering the final season of his rookie contract. But Parsons isn’t sweating the situation.
“I just work harder,” Parsons said about his mindset regarding still not having signed an extension with the Cowboys in an interview with PennLive.com. “Like, to me, I look at it like if people don’t see your value, you don’t cry and sit down. You just work harder. You got to show people your value. I just think that’s the difference. Like I go, okay, ‘bet,’ and I just work.”
Parsons participated in offseason workouts and hasn’t held out for a deal.
A Pro Bowler in each of his four seasons in the NFL, Parsons logged 12.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and 43 combined tackles in 13 games last season; he missed four games due to an ankle injury. Parsons ranked fourth among edge defenders with a 91.6 pass-rush grade, sixth with a 90.0 overall grade and 72nd with a 65.5 run-defense grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
A two-time All-Pro, Parsons has registered double-digit sacks in each of his four NFL seasons and was the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award winner. He’s already fourth in Cowboys history with 63.0 tackles for loss, tied for ninth with nine forced fumbles and is 13th with 52.5 sacks.
There has been a plethora of money doled out to pass rushers this offseason. Four-time All-Pro Myles Garrett signed a four-year, $160 million extension with the Cleveland Browns; four-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby signed a three-year, $106.5 million extension with the Las Vegas Raiders; five-time Pro Bowler Danielle Hunter signed a one-year, $35.6 million extension with the Houston Texans.
Meanwhile, four-time All-Pro T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh Steelers) and four-time Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson (Cincinnati Bengals) are in contract disputes with their respective teams.
Do these situations impact Parsons’ financial asks from the Cowboys?
“Not really, because I’m just going to get mine no matter what,” Parsons said about Garrett’s contract and lingering contract matters pertaining to star pass rushers. “You know what I mean? Like, the markets change every year. Their salary cap went up, like, another 18% this year. So, if you want to know contracts, all the contracts are based off of percentage. Like, each player, a high-paid player, takes a percentage of the salary cap. So, it’s not really the number. It goes off by the salary cap.”
Last summer, the Cowboys signed quarterback Dak Prescott to a four-year, $240 million extension and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to a four-year, $136 million extension.
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