In today’s SI:AM:
🏉Top 25 NFL teams of the 2000s
Jerry Jones Should Be Better at This by Now
The Dallas Cowboys open training camp this week, and, of course, Jerry Jones is once again the star of the show.
Jones’s tenure leading the Cowboys has been (let’s call it) “memorable.” The biggest headlines from his past few years have stemmed from some pretty brutal decisions regarding the basics of how to handle a star player’s contract extension.
This offseason, it’s superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons’s turn to spin the wheel. Parsons could have been handed an extension at any point in the offseason.
From a distance, it felt like the negotiations should have gone pretty smoothly. Parsons is one of the best players at his position. When one of the best players at his position is due for an extension, you can find a pretty solid number by taking the current highest-paid player at the position, adding a little on top in terms of average annual salary or guaranteed money and calling it a day.
The issue for the Cowboys is that, since the window to hand Parsons an extension opened, the title of highest-paid edge rusher has changed hands a few times, with the likes of Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt all getting their new massive deals done in the past few months.
Best practices in the NFL, in large part, are to sign a great player to an extension as soon as you are sure they are great. DeVonta Smith, who was drafted by the Eagles two spots ahead of Parsons in the 2021 draft, received his extension in the spring of 2024, long before he had any chance of being out of team control. If a player is great, waiting to pay them will cost more money down the line. As things stand, Parsons is reportedly looking for a deal worth $200 million.
This is a lesson that a lot of teams learn through experience. The issue is that the Cowboys very much should have already learned this lesson, as it is a pretty solid mirroring of how things played out with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb last offseason.
While Lamb was waiting for his new deal, Justin Jefferson reset the receiver market with his new deal in June of 2024. Lamb’s eventual deal would not surpass Jefferson’s, but the fact that the Vikings put ink to paper first undoubtedly forced the Cowboys to up their offer.
Through both of these negotiations—which, again, feel like they should have been relatively simple—Jones has been a consistent antagonist, insisting that the Cowboys do things a certain way.
"Just because we sign him doesn't mean we're going to have him," Jones said of Parsons to assembled reporters on Monday. "He was hurt six games last year. Seriously!"
"I remember signing a player [to become] the highest-paid player at the position in the league and he got knocked out two-thirds of the year," Jones said. "Dak Prescott. So there's a lot of things you can think about, just as the player does, when you're thinking about commitment, guarantee, and money."
It’s a somewhat similar dismissiveness Jones put on display while working through Lamb’s deal in 2024. While Lamb was holding out during Cowboys camp, Jones made headlines when he told reporters, “I don’t have any urgency to get it done.” Let’s take a look at Lamb’s response at the time:
— CeeDee Lamb (@_CeeDeeThree) August 8, 2024
Jones is welcome to run the Cowboys however he wants; that’s one of the perks of owning an NFL team. The good news is that this year Parsons is not holding out. He’s talked positively about getting a deal done and is present at camp with the Cowboys.
I am by no means negotiating any NFL deals on my own. But, between losing money against the salary cap by waiting to finalize deals and straining relationships with players over prolonged negotiations, it sure feels like the Cowboys are getting the worst of both worlds when it comes to re-signing players about whom there were zero doubts about re-signing.
Further, players around the league will notice. Former All-Pro defender JJ Watt called out Jones’s comments towards Parsons.
"Anytime you can publicly take a dig at your star quarterback and your star pass rusher simultaneously, right before the season begins, you just gotta take it," Watt wrote on X. "Nothing makes guys want to fight for you more than hearing how upset you are that they got hurt while fighting for you."
Parsons retweeted the post.
*NOW* we’re talking. this is what it’s all about. pic.twitter.com/sD0zbLSO9f
— Dave Helman (@davehelman_) July 21, 2025
If the Cowboys had the recent track record of the Chiefs, Jones’s hard-line stance might be more effective. As things stand, Dallas has the longest streak of failing to reach the conference title game of any team in the NFC.
When Parsons eventually does get the deal he rightfully deserves, what will all of the drama have been for?
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Jerry Jones Can’t Get Out of His Own Way.
