The Cowboys void for leadership is still evident with latest Micah Parsons saga

The Cowboys having all sorts of drama at training camp was, unfortunately, pretty predictable.

The Dallas Cowboys had a day off from practicing on the fields at Oxnard on Friday, and with that a day off from fighting with pads and helmets on seeing as that’s been a theme of training camp thus far, but that didn’t stop them from dominating the headlines, making news for all of the wrong reasons, and taking the fight to social media. We are of course talking about the Micah Parsons situation.

With each passing day that the Cowboys best defender, and obviously one of the best in the whole league, goes without a new contract, the potential for something like Friday’s breaking point happening could only go up. The Cowboys knew this. Everyone knew this. It happened anyway, and of all the cats that can’t be put back in a box with spin or attempted good PR, this might as well be a full blown tiger on the loose. Or just maybe, a lion on the loose if the Cowboys truly can’t redeem themselves and make their star pass rusher happy again.

In typical Cowboys fashion, a story that started ominously only took a matter of minutes to get so much worse. First it was reported by The Athletic that Parsons was considering distancing himself even further than his current “hold in” status at training camp, the details of which were ambiguous for just a moment.

Moments later, Parsons took matters even more into his own hands and tweeted a lengthy explanation of the situation from his own perspective which concluded with telling Stephen Jones he’s formally requested a trade.

Parsons’ statement read as follows, via Twitter/X:

“Yes I wanted to be here. I did everything I could to show that I wanted to be a Cowboy and wear the star on my helmet. I wanted to play in front of the best fans in sports and make this America’s Team once again. The team my pops and I grew up cheering for way up in Harrisburg, PA.

“Unfortunately, I no longer want to be here. I no longer want to be held to closed 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. I had purposely stayed quiet in hopes of getting something done. But since there is confusion out there let me clear some things up.

“I had my agent reach out to the Cowboys last offseason after my third year in hopes of getting a deal done early. Unfortunately, the team did not want to start any negotiations at that point. I was OK with that and didn’t complain, and focused on the 2024 season. After the season, I told my agent once again to let the team know we were open to negotiate when they met at the combine. My agent informed me I should wait for other deals to get done because the price would only go up, but I didn’t care and wanted to secure myself as a Cowboy long-term.

“This was before any of the other pass rushers deals got done this offseason. I knew I would be leaving money on the table but, again, I was OK with that. Again, radio silence, as far as my extension. In March, I met with Mr. Jones to talk about leadership. Somehow, the conversation turned into him talking contract with me. Yes, I engaged in a back-and-forth in regards to what I wanted from my contract, but at no point did I believe this was supposed to be a formal negotiation, and l informed Mr. Jones afterwards my agent would reach out thinking this would get things done.

“But when my agent reached out and spoke to Adam, he was told the deal was pretty much already done. My agent, of course, told him that wasn’t the case and also reached out to Stephen Jones. Again, the team decided to go silent. At that point, we decided we would allow the team to reach out to us whenever they decided they wanted to talk. Yet, still not a call, email or text to my agent about starting a negotiation. Up to today, the team has not had a single conversation with my agent about a contract. Not one demand has been made by my agent about money, years or anything else. But, 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.”

The overwhelming response to this fiasco from Cowboys fans has been to use it as ammo to go after the front office’s handling of these star player contracts even more. The support for the players side of these negotiations has never been more palpable. Parsons’ teammates have even joined in on the support, mostly through social media. Safety Juanyeh Thomas and linebacker Demarvion Overshown both changed their Twitter/X profile picture to one of Parsons. CeeDee Lamb – one of the center’s of similar contract drama just one long offseason ago – also posted this:

What’s happening here isn’t new, but it is something where each past example helps shape the latest development. It is important to remember that multiple things can be true all at the same time. Such as, it is true and fair to say the Cowboys front office has earned next to no credit or good faith when it comes to giving the benefit of the doubt on how they handle big contracts to big name players. It is also true that seeing right through their tactics of using the media and public perception in ill-fated attempts to bring down star players’ value before signing them has never been easier.

In the last two offseasons, they’ve gone through this with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and now Parsons. These are three of the best players on the team, all at the positions that decide games the most in today’s NFL, with highlight reel plays aplenty even the most casual fans would know. The time has come and gone for the Dallas brass to learn their lesson in this way, and before they’ve done so, the stakes on Parsons have reached a never before seen point in recent history thanks to Friday’s trade request.

For as much as all of these things are painfully and, at times, inexplicably true, there is still a separate conversation to be had about understanding where the front office is coming from. They’ve been very public that their top paid players should be more than just great players on the field, they should be leaders on and off the field. Again, sticking with the context that multiple things can be true all at once, it is true that this makes sense and is more than a fair expectation from Jerry and Stephen Jones, Will McClay, etc. It is also true that the Cowboys are putting an even bigger emphasis on the quality of leadership going into year one of head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who almost immediately after being hired set the bar high with an aim to “create the best culture in professional sports”.

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The Cowboys don’t exactly deserve praise for the way they’ve called on players like Parsons or Trevon Diggs to be more of leaders (Diggs after the fact on getting a new contract), but they have been praised this offseason for seemingly aligning the organization better than in years past from front office all the way through coaching and personnel. Things seemed to be moving in the right direction with a common goal under Schottenheimer, but surely all of these goals require a truly all-world player like Parsons being pointed at the enemy quarterback each and every Sunday. The fact that is now in question is an abject failure, but there is blame on both sides to go around.

Parsons merely defending himself from unnecessary jabs by the front office, or missing games a season ago, are not the first or only things that have called into question his ability to be a leader well on track to reset the entire defensive player market with a new contract. Concerns over Parsons starting his own podcast as an open forum to discuss all things football and otherwise, very much so including active teammates, has raised concerns in this regard as has his practice efforts and even at lesser times, snap-to-snap effort in game.

None of this adds up to Parsons not being worth a mega deal to be a long-term Cowboy great, but “mega deal” is not what goes in the fine print of the contract Parsons will ultimately put pen to. The dollars and cents matter here, for a Cowboys team still in need of a lot of depth.

We are all painfully aware of the Jerry Jones tried and true mantra that if there was a check he could write to guarantee his Cowboys win the Super Bowl, he would write it. This is of course not how it works at all. The next closest thing though is writing checks for the right players, the likes of which the Cowboys haven’t had in almost 30 years, if at least reaching the conference championship game is a litmus test here.

All Cowboys fans want to see Micah Parsons get paid and be on the field. They also don’t want to see a team that’s one injury away from a player like Amani Oruwariye playing meaningful snaps on defense and special teams, and costing the team a primetime game on Monday night in the process. This was life for the Cowboys a year ago against the Bengals, a loss that was the last gasp of life on a team that frankly didn’t deserve a playoff spot anyway having a remote chance at one.

The balance between the two is what the Jones are after, and anything else that happens in the court of public opinion along the way, as ugly as it’s gotten in just the last 24 hours or so, is not of concern. It also isn’t likely lost to the front office that the most recent check they’ve written in hopes of securing a player that can bring championship glory is already under intense scrutiny, that of Dak Prescott’s.

A segment of fans see it as an albatross holding the entire team back rather than a necessity to keep a MVP-level QB in place, with Prescott’s last MVP-esque season coming in 2023, and 2024 being cut short by injury. The NFL is a “what have you done for me lately” game after all, and there is no check that can simply be written in exchange for the Lombardi trophy. These are more truths that run parallel to this Parsons situation whether anyone likes it or not, especially those boasting that this wouldn’t have happened if Parsons’ deal was taken care of already.

From the standpoint of looking at this from where the Jones’ are coming from, some of Parsons most recent comments in his social media statement are contradictory to what ultimately needs to get done here. It’s also worth noting while looking at this statement under the microscope just how close the personal relationship has been at times between Jerry and Micah, since the negotiations specifically between those two has come up.

There had been nothing but upmost respect and genuine endearment between both parties up until now. Parsons even alludes to the two having a meeting specifically about leadership from #11, showing a real desire and emphasis from Jones on this being a key thing he will consider before breaking open the piggy bank to extend Parsons. We don’t know all of what went down in these meetings, and obviously never will, but the end result is where we are now – still observing a team in desperate need of leadership from somewhere. Even having a deal already in place by Parsons now wouldn’t necessarily fill this void, given the fact Jerry and Parsons had to meet about it in the first place. Again, blame on both sides is a reality here.

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Parsons somewhat alluded to this relationship when he expressed his desire to get a deal done early before his rookie contract came to the fifth-year option it’s now in. He then says it was his agent that eventually put a stop to these discussions happening after the 2024 season, the same agent the front office now understandably doesn’t want involved, and Parsons now does. Immediately after, Parsons says he knew he’d be leaving money on the table.

Wanting to bring an agent into negotiations can only mean one thing, and the Joneses know it. Quite literally the only thing an agent will ever fight for in these contract situations is getting the most possible money for his player. From an objective business standpoint, it makes sense why Jerry and Stephen wouldn’t want this, if they’re already willing to stoop to the level of publicly belittling talented players for the sake of saving a few bucks.

Is Parsons actually wanting to help the team get any bit of a discount to help surround him with the best defensive talent possible? They’ve shown a strong willingness to do this in this offseason with trades, free agent acquisitions, and spending a second-round draft pick at defensive end. Or is Parsons now totally dug in on the fact an agent that will only have his best financial interests in mind needs to be present in all future talks with the front office?

For a player that’s also talked openly about his desire for a Super Bowl, and not in a generic way that all players do, but as one that understands the assignment of how winning a ring or not is more of a measuring stick for great players in this franchise than it is elsewhere, there are behaviors by Parsons that simply don’t make total sense. The same is true of the front office, and they too are not new like we said.

Friday was a dark day for the Dallas Cowboys in general because of all of this. By bringing in a whole new coaching staff, the hope was this would be enough to wash away the underlying reasons why last season was such a failure. One of these reasons squarely had nothing to do with coaching though, it was the way the Prescott and Lamb contract situations hung over the team’s head and was a distraction right up until week one. Learning from this mistake falls on the Jones and not Parsons, and here it is safe to say they already failed miserably. This offseason’s contract drama has told last year’s to hold it’s beer. The Cowboys sorely need leadership they aren’t getting from any angle right now.

It didn’t have to be like this, as you’ve read before. Following whatever the national narrative is around the Cowboys as a true diehard fan can be exhausting, comical, frustrating, and many other things at different times. Most fans seem happy to let the big networks talk arbitrarily about falling short on Super Bowl expectations, or any other way the Cowboys can come up even during major playoff runs in other sports.

The fact this story is now big enough to unify all of the talk around the Cowboys, from national down to local and in between, around drama between the front office and a star player is sad. So much damage has already been done relative to even being able to enjoy the news that still may come that Parsons and the Cowboys have worked out a long-term deal. At the end of the day, this is a player Dallas needs to be taking seriously to make any real noise this year and beyond, but even that is not enough leverage to simply be written a blank check that defies any and all cap logic and makes this all go away.

None of this is going away anytime soon, because neither are the “leaders” in charge of the show, minus possibly Micah Parsons in what would be a shocking, blockbuster trade.