“I’m not looking at free agency as a place to fill voids.” This was Jerry Jones’ statement when asked whether he sees free agency as an opportunity to improve his roster. I mean, after his “all-in” comments last year that got Jerry into trouble for taking an opposite approach and the Cowboys finishing 7-10. It’s not really surprising to see Jones squash any rumors of the Cowboys being active in free agency. But the question is, can they really avoid diving into the market? Because 17 of their players who had some sort of role to play last season will hit unrestricted free agency today.

Here’s the thing: The legal tampering window is opening today before the free agency market officially begins on March 12th. So, Jones cannot stop 17 of his Cowboys from negotiating with agents in hopes of securing a move away from Dallas. See, they already gave one big-money contract to their DT, Osa Odighizuwa. Signing him for a 4-year, $80M contract instead of franchise tagging him. But it doesn’t look like Jones was interested in keeping 17 of these players.

Looking at all the Cowboys unrestricted free agents, 9 of the 17 players are over 30. Leaving aside Lewis and Kendricks, none of them played over 50% of snaps in their respective positions. Maybe that’s why the Cowboys are trying to move on from them and cut their losses. But the thing that actually raises our eyebrows is they are letting Cooper Rush and Trey Lance both test the market. This leaves Dak Prescott as the only QB option available in Dallas. Surely, Jerry Jones isn’t planning to open the season with Prescott as his only option. Who knows, Jones might back away from his statements about not “looking at free agency” to fill that void in his QB room.

Where Does Cowboys Still Lack Elite Talent?

Let Tony do the scouting, you just make the pick.

Pick your positions. Get Tony’s top 5:

QB

RB

FB

WR

TE

C

CB

DE

DT

G

ILB

OLB

P

PK

S

T

View Tony’s Picks

And while he tries to bring in some new faces at the Star. Jones has a bit of a problem on the negotiating table because of his leniency.

Is Micah Parsons staying or leaving?

Micah Parsons is a bit of a watcher right now, you know. You know what I mean. He saw Raiders star edge-rusher Maxx Crosby get his $35.5M per season extension, and he tweeted, “Congrats, my brother.” Judging by his tweet, it looked like Parsons was a bit upset that he had not yet received his extension. But others in his position are getting record-breaking deals.

Well, two days later, he was in for another surprise; this time, it was Myles Garrett’s time to get an extension. Putting to bed all of his Super Bowl dreams and squashing any trade rumors, Garrett signed a whopping $40M per season extension till 2030. Within a matter of 48 hours, he snatched Crosby’s crown of being the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history.

And Parsons? Well, he tweeted again, “Lol yoo wtf.” The Cowboys star linebacker saw two players at his position get record-breaking deals and wondered why he isn’t getting anything. Don’t you feel Parsons should be jealous right now? And it wouldn’t really surprise a lot out there if he also asks for a deal somewhere close to the Crosby and Garrett’s. But he isn’t like that. When asked if he would also demand a trade to get a huge contract, Parsons was brutally honest, “No, I don’t plan on following suit. As long as, you know, I get a deal done. I think I’ll be pretty happy.”

If this isn’t enough to pay Parsons what he deserves, then what is? He is neither upset that his peers are getting big contracts nor does he hope to destroy his relationship with the Cowboys. Hell, he wants to be a Cowboy for life. So, pay up the man before the market throws another curveball to Jerry Jones.