As Micah Parsons remains in contract negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys, Stephen A. Smith shared some advice on what the star edge rusher should do to get a new deal.
Stephen A. Smith Talks About Micah Parsons’ Contract Situation
The situation between Parsons and the Cowboys has not improved. What started out as a promising discussion has quickly gone the other way.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared a disappointing update for Cowboys fans during Thursday’s First Take. Schefter mentioned how he believed that Parsons and the Cowboys would eventually get this deal done. However, Parsons has not had any discussions with Jerry and Steven Jones in “months.”
“The two sides have gone backwards, not forwards,” Schefter said. “I don’t think they’re speaking very much these days, if at all. This negotiation, when it was a negotiation, has gone sideways. It’s not a negotiation right now. There’s really no conversation about getting a deal done. That could change next week. It could change shortly before the season. We’ve seen how long Dallas sometimes waits on some of these deals. See CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott last season.”
Lamb signed his deal a week before the season, while Prescott inked his contract on the morning of the Cowboys’ Week 1 game in 2024.
After Schefter’s update, Smith chimed in with an intriguing suggestion for Parsons. Smith suggested that Parsons might have to miss games to get his point across.
“If you’re Micah Parsons – I don’t think it’s gonna come to do this please don’t get me wrong – but in the interest of discussing his contractual business, I think he’s gotta be willing to sit out the year,” Smith said. “Because I think that’s the only language that Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones at this particular moment is going to understand.”
For now, Parsons is practicing and has shown no signs that he’d miss games this season.
Micah Parsons’ Potential Contract
.@AdamSchefter says Micah Parsons' contract negotiations slowed once his agent was a part of negotiations 🤔
"Jerry [Jones] has had a history of … doing deals with his very top players by himself. … He and Micah made enough progress that it was difficult to walk that back." pic.twitter.com/6HIwGU2zF1
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 31, 2025
The market has been set for an edge rusher of Parsons’ caliber.
Earlier this offseason, Cleveland’s Myles Garrett signed a four-year, $160 million contract extension, including $123.5 million in guaranteed money.
Garrett became the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL at $40 million per year.
Garrett held this title for a few months before being passed by Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, who signed a three-year, $123 million extension, with $108 million fully guaranteed.
Watt’s $41 million per year is the new standard for edge rushers.
Because of his age (26) and prowess, Parsons will likely surpass Watt’s contract whenever he agrees to terms with the Cowboys.
