It started as a quiet Friday in Oxnard. The Cowboys had the day off. Just a couple of scheduled media sessions with George Pickens and Kaiir Elam. Pickens wrapped up, and Elam was just getting settled at the podium when everything changed. Micah Parsons hit send – “Thank you Dallas 🦁👑🙏🏾!“

The weather couldn’t have been better. 73 degrees, clear skies, a light breeze coming off the coast. The air was thick for Parsons’ teammates. But for Jerry Jones? Not really. About an hour after Parsons posted, Stephen Jones was out on his usual walk around the practice fields in Oxnard. And when a reporter tossed out, “Never a dull day.” Jones didn’t flinch. He kept walking and smiled: “Better than a boring one, right?”

The Cowboys have had issues finalizing long-term deals with top-tier players for years. This offseason has only thrown that pattern into sharper focus. But the current stalemate with Micah Parsons is starting to look worse than anything the team has dealt with in recent memory. And that was before Parsons went public with his frustration. Still, Jerry and Stephen Jones have held their position, and the tone between Parsons and the organization has turned sharply. Inside the building, players have started to show where they stand.

The family reacted first. Terrence Parsons Jr., Micah’s brother, took to X with a sly, pointed take, “Micah playing the game, I love it 😂.” It wasn’t anger, it was knowing amusement. The kind you hear from someone close enough to see how negotiations, leverage, and power plays work in the NFL.

A few days back, he posted about Jones retaining his star defender. But everything is in shambles now. However, he also assured the heartbroken Cowboys fans of a positive outcome. Micah Parsons’ brother tweeted, “Yall chill lol Myles asked for a trade too.” Well, we know that ended with a record-breaking extension. Is that a sign that Jerry Jones will sign a multi-million dollar contract with his DE? Maybe!

Then came CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys’ offensive face. His Instagram story, a plain black background with the words “smh” said more than any press conference could. His message on X was louder, “Never fails dawg. Just pay the man what you owe em. No need for the extra curricular 😒” If Lamb is shaking his head, it’s not just about losing a defensive anchor; it’s about what this means for the locker room’s trust in the front office.

Tactics and Jerry Jones have been a pattern

Micah Parsons wanted to be in Dallas.“I did everything I could to show that I wanted to be a Cowboy and wear the star on my helmet,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, I no longer want to be here.” He grew up a Cowboys fan, dreamed of wearing the star, and openly told the team he wanted to secure his future in blue and silver before other pass rushers reset the market.

He even admitted he was willing to leave money on the table to get a deal done early. But instead of honoring that intent, Parsons says the Cowboys chose to play a waiting game. According to Parsons, the breakdown started last offseason when his agent reached out after his third year to begin extension talks. Dallas wasn’t ready, and Parsons accepted it, staying focused on the 2024 season. After the season, he tried again, this time at the NFL Combine, telling his agent to inform the team he was ready to negotiate.

But rather than jump at the chance, he says the Cowboys went silent. When Parsons later met with Jerry Jones to talk leadership, the conversation somehow shifted to contract talk. Parsons engaged but assumed it wasn’t a formal negotiation. He expected his agent to handle that. When his agent did reach out, he was told by Cowboys VP of player personnel Adam that the deal was “pretty much already done.”

Parsons says that was false. His agent tried to clarify and even contacted Stephen Jones, only to be met with more silence. Weeks passed, no calls, no emails, no texts. In Parsons’ words, “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.”

Parsons says he endured this stonewalling while also taking repeated shots from the organization. Being criticized for injuries he suffered while playing through pain for the team. And having negative narratives pushed into the media about him. He stayed quiet for months, hoping cooler heads would prevail, but eventually decided enough was enough. “I no longer want to be held to close-door negotiations without my agent present. I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys,” he wrote.

By Parsons’ account, Jerry and Stephen Jones didn’t just mishandle talks; they misled him into thinking a deal was moving forward, then froze him out completely while controlling the public narrative. And now, with his trade request formally submitted, the Cowboys’ most dominant player is calling out the leadership at the very top for the way they’ve done business.