Sports media abhors a vacuum.
In the absence of comments from the principals to an ongoing story, reports will emerge. Some accurate, some not. One topic for such fodder in recent weeks has been the contract talks, if any, between the Cowboys and do-it-all defender Micah Parsons.
On Sunday, Cowboys executive Stephen Jones added some oxygen to the conversation, from the site of the league meetings in Palm Beach.
“I don’t want to get into any details,” Stephen Jones said, via Todd Archer of ESPN.com. “It’s not fair for anybody, other than we’ve got a great working relationship with Micah and think the world of him. Like I’ve said, we’ve had good visits with him and feel good about where we’re headed.”
Jones also was asked whether recent contracts signed by pass rushers like Maxx Crosby of the Raiders and Myles Garrett of the Browns set the market for Parsons.
“Like I said, I’m not going to get into any detail on where things are, and how far along we are or anything like that,” Jones said, per Archer. “It’s not productive.”
He’s right. And here’s what would be far more productive. Sitting down with Parsons’s agent, David Mulugheta, and getting it done. Mulugheta recently negotiated a deal for Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. with no external deadline. Which means he can be trusted to do a win-win contract without a loudly ticking clock.
The Cowboys can’t be. They’ve proven it, time and again.
It would be easy, if they truly wanted to do it. Ja’Marr Chase set the bar (sort of) at $40.25 million in new-money average. If the Cowboys and Parsons start at $40.5 million per year for the four years beyond 2025, the deal negotiates itself.
Yes, agreements will be needed regarding subjects such as guarantee structure and salary de-escalators for failure to participate in the offseason workout program (the Cowboys prefer that to the traditional workout bonus). But it will be simple, if/when the two sides sit down with an earnest desire to get a deal done.
It could be finalized in a few hours. Hell, it could be hammered out in 15 minutes.
But that’s not how the Cowboys do things. They drag their spurs, thinking that the deal will somehow get better if they do. And if never, ever does.
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