Last week, Micah Parsons joined The Undertaker for an interview—yes, that Undertaker and couldn’t resist tossing a subtle jab at the Cowboys‘ front office. “Ownership is always going (to) make it drag out, make it more complicated than it has to be,” the 26-year-old pass rusher said, clearly hinting at the contract limbo he’s still stuck in. While guys like T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, and Maxx Crosby have already locked in their monster deals, Parsons isn’t panicking.

He didn’t even expect an extension before training camp—and honestly, he’s cool with it. And logic tracks. Parsons knows what he brings to the table—elite production, Pro Bowl status, and serious face-of-the-franchise potential. So he’s betting on the bigger bag down the road. He knows that there’s going to be a pot of gold at some point. And who can argue with him?

The Cowboys are getting a premium product on a rookie price tag, and Parsons seems just fine letting the clock tick while Dallas figures out how much that gold is worth. But just when it felt like Parsons held all the leverage, Jerry Jones stepped in with a reality check—one that sounded less like a contract preview and more like a caution.

Jones randomly took a shot at Parsons and claimed that even if the Cowboys sign him, it doesn’t guarantee that they’ll have him. “Just because we signed him doesn’t mean we’re going to have him. He was hurt six games last year, seriously,” the Cowboys’ owner said, addressing his last year. And you could feel that Jerry wasn’t mincing words when he said this. Why?

Well, the Cowboys signed a player for the highest-paid in that position, and that player went on to miss out 2/3rd of the 2024 season. Rings a bell? Of course, it’s Jerry’s way of referring to the Cowboys’ quarterback, Dak Prescott. “We’ve signed, I remember signing a player for the highest paid at the position in the league, and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year, Dak Prescott,” Jerry said. “So there’s a lot of things you can think about when you, just as the player does, when you’re thinking about committing and guaranteeing money.”

Dallas signed Prescott on a four-year contract extension worth $240 million, including $231 million guaranteed. But the quarterback went down with a hamstring injury in week 9 of his first year as the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Just eight games, a mediocre 3-5 record, nearly 2,000 yards, and 11 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Parsons entered the 2024 season with optimism. After all, he recorded 64 tackles and 14.0 sacks in the 2023 season. But his high-ankle sprain interrupted his season and limited him to just 11 games, which somehow, JJ decided to use against him when the contract extension talks surfaced. Parsons is seeking a new deal that could make him the highest-paid non-QB in the league. But as things stand, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys are trying to push his extension in one way or another, as the DE showed up at training camp.

Micah Parsons shows up at the training camp

Unlike players who go full ghost mode during contract standoffs, Micah Parsons took a different route. He showed up for the first day of the OTAs, dipped out for a few workouts amid negotiations, but made it a point to report for mandatory minicamp. Now? He’s back in Oxnard for training camp. And when Jerry Jones was asked about Micah’s attendance, the Cowboys’ owner summed it up with one line: It shows Micah’s character that he is here.

“I’m appreciative of Micah being here. I am,” Jerry said. “And it’s incumbent upon us all. We’ve got a player that we’ve docked him for not being here during off-season workout, as you well know, and we will fine him because those parts of a contract to go directly toward the leadership that he is a player relative to the rest of the team. And certainly, obviously to our fans as well. So, I’m big into, and not alone either, I’m big into showing anything you can do for leadership if you’re going to be one of those guys that are in the top drawer of all the money.”

Speaking of which, Jerry Jones just made it clear that the Cowboys are gonna slap Trevon Diggs with a fine, who skipped the OTAs earlier this offseason. Diggs is coming from a serious knee injury and worked out away from the team facility during the OTAs. And yes, that’s something that bothered Jerry Jones in the past.

Meanwhile, Jerry expects Micah Parsons to participate in the training camp, now that the DE is in Oxnard, because that shows character and leadership of a player who’s seeking a contract extension. That said, we still don’t have an official timeline on Parsons’ contract extension with the regular season inching closer.