Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones claims that Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons reneged on a "handshake" agreement they made in March about a contract extension. His repeated insistence that he thought he had a deal contradicts his statements at the NFL annual meeting held March 30 to April 2.

"I know that I've spent five, six hours with him (Parsons) myself and had a lot of discussions. Most of the issues are in agreement, and I've discussed it all," Jones said. "We obviously don't have an agreement relative to a new contract. Micah is under contract. So we'll see how that goes. It's not uncommon for me to visit directly with players, and in this particular case, that's what I'm doing."

Jones made additional comments dismissing the role of Parsons' agent, Athletes First's David Mulugheta, in the negotiating process where he said he didn't know who represented Parsons. This prompted Parsons to declare on social media that a deal wouldn't be done without Mulugheta's involvement. 

Mulugheta is one of the most prominent NFL agents. He was able to get quarterback Deshaun Watson a groundbreaking, fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million contract in connection with his 2022 trade from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns despite having four years worth $136 million remaining on the contract extension he signed with the Texans in 2020. 

More recently, Mulugheta made cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. the NFL's first $30 million-per-year defensive back. Stingley received a three-year, $90 million extension with a defensive back record $89,026,026 in guarantees from the Texans in March.

Jones has a long history of trying to circumvent agents when negotiating contracts. I have witnessed it firsthand. When I was just getting started in athlete representation, the firm I worked for represented Jimmy Smith. Our expectation was Smith would be taken in the latter part of the first round in the 1992 NFL Draft. He was considered the third best wide receiver prospect available. 

We knew going ahead of Carl Pickens was unlikely. Pickens was the second wide receiver drafted. The Cincinnati Bengals selected Pickens early in the second round with the 31st overall pick (there were only 28 NFL teams in 1992).

Jones called Smith while the Cowboys were on the clock to tell him he was going to be taken 36th overall but only if he agreed to a contract before the pick was made. Smith, who was already feeling some anxiety because NFL teams were waiting to draft wide receivers, agreed to Jones' below-market terms. 

A rookie wage scale with strict financial parameters for each pick of the draft didn't exist in 1992. The Cowboys drew criticism from agents and other teams for using this tactic with several of their 1992 draftees because it violated conventional draft protocol.

My bosses were livid after Smith told us what happened. If Smith had been allowed to consult with us before making a decision, he would have been instructed to call Jones' bluff. My bosses called Jones to let him know the verbal agreement wasn't binding and any negotiations would be with them. A deal appropriate for Smith's draft position was subsequently negotiated. Because of the Cowboys' tactics, all future draft eligible clients we signed were given instructions on how to handle the situation Smith faced.

Parsons, who is a training camp hold-in with "back issues," bears some responsibility for his current predicament. In Parsons' statement publicly announcing his recent trade request, he acknowledged that he had engaged in back-and-forth conversations with Jones and no longer wanted to be bound to closed-door negotiations without his agent being present.

Parsons would have been better served taking a page from former Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant's playbook in contract discussions with Jones. In a January 2024 appearance on the Pivot podcast, Bryant recalled ending Jones' attempt to negotiate directly by asking Jones if he could cover him on the football field. Jones admitted it would be a disaster. Bryant then compared Jones trying to stop him in a football game to negotiating his own deal against Jones.

Jones engages with players because he knows he has a huge advantage from a business standpoint in this type of dialogue. At the most, Parsons should have had a brief conversation with Jones about his contract where he conveyed that he's the best defensive player in the NFL and should be paid accordingly, but Mulugheta will handle substantive discussions.

From the outside looking in, Parsons seems like he might be a challenging client in some respects. Parsons raised eyebrows last December by opening the door to taking a hometown discount. "I feel like you see a lot of times 'highest paid,' then we say they don't have weapons, or they don't have this," Parsons said. "So I would rather just be in the best situation, you know? At that point, I don't think there's a big difference between $30 million and $40 million in my eyes, you know? And that's just me talking."

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Parsons also recognized that Mulugheta wouldn't like his comments. "My agent might be mad at me I even said that," Parsons said. "But you know, for me, I mean I've already been blessed enough, bro, where like. I can't complain too much in life." 

Outside of quickly dismissing Parsons' trade request as just being a part of negotiations, Jones has refrained from potentially further antagonizing his best player. Jones hasn't spoken to Parsons since his trade request. There still hasn't been any communication between Mulugheta and the Cowboys since late February at the NFL Scouting Combine. Surprisingly, Jones deflected questions about Parsons prior to the Cowboys' preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams.  

Some sort of drama, most likely with Parsons considering he is in a contract year and his stature on the Cowboys, should have been expected based on Jones' comments at Monday's night premiere of the Netflix documentary, America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys. "I do believe, if we're not being looked at, I'll do my part to get us looked at," Jones said. "The Cowboys are a soap opera 365 days a year. When it gets slow, I'll stir it up. … Oh, it's wonderful to have the great players. … But there is something more there. There is sizzle. There is emotion. There is controversy. That controversy is good stuff."

This approach has served Jones well from a financial standpoint. The Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise on the planet worth $12.8 billion, according to Sportico, which is nearly $2.4 billion more than the next most valuable NFL franchise.

The ultimate football success that the Cowboys achieved with three Super Bowl victories in Jones' first seven years of his ownership has eluded him for 30 years. The Cowboys haven't been to the NFC Championship game since 1995 when the franchise last won the Super Bowl. On five different occasions, the Cowboys have won 12 or more regular-season games over the last 15 years though.

Money has a tendency to cure all ills in the NFL. Perennial first-team All-Pro edge rusher Myles Garrett was adamant about being traded from the Cleveland Browns during the early part of the offseason because he wanted to play for a championship contender. That went out of the window when the Browns made Garrett the NFL's first $40 million-per-year non-quarterback in March. The 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year signed a four-year, $160 million extension with a non-quarterback record of $123,596,125 in overall guarantees.

Parsons rejecting an offer from the Cowboys making him the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback ahead of Pittsburgh Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt's $41 million per year by a decent margin, with more than his $108 million fully guaranteed at signing and Garrett's total guarantees out of the principle because of the trade request, would be unprecedented. Jones would have more drama than on "The Young and The Restless," which is currently television's most viewed daytime soap opera, under that scenario.