First CeeDee Lamb, then Dak Prescott, now Micah Parsons? The Dallas Cowboys will be looking for a way to keep their trio of stars together.
Los Dallas Cowboys dominated the narratives of the NFL Week 1 when, just a few minutes before playing his debut of the season against the Cleveland Brownsannounced a multimillion-dollar extension for their star quarterback, Dak Prescott.
Prescott is set to make $240 million over the next four seasons (of which $231 million is guaranteed) shortly after his favorite receiver, CeeDee Lamb, signed a new contract.
Now, the problem that plagued the Cowboys just a few months ago seems to be practically resolved. On the offensive side, they will be able to continue counting on their two most media-savvy players while they look to contend for their first Super Bowl in almost three decades. Although there are still questions about whether Mike McCarthy will remain head coach after this season, the foundation of the team remains firm for the future.
Naturally, the eyes will now turn to the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys also have to decide whether to keep Micah Parsonswho broke his career high for sacks with 14 last season. But besides Parsons, there are other players in the mix who could receive extensions or decide to test free agency when their contracts expire.
After the most recent bombshell of Jerry Jones To secure the future of their franchise, who else could negotiate their next contract in the coming months?
Micah Parsons, the most obvious candidate
Parsons’ contract expires in 2025, the same one he signed when he was selected by the franchise in the 2021 Draft with the twelfth pick of the first round. In three seasons with the Lone Star team, the former player Penn State has dazzled as one of the most important defensive figures in the entire NFL.
In his first season, he was voted Defensive Rookie of the Yearand has been voted to the first or second team All-Pro in his first three seasons in the league. The Cowboys activated the fifth-year option on his contract just in April, but they did so with him considered as a linebacker rather than a defensive end, since that was the position they initially drafted him at and it’s also cheaper in terms of the contract.
But what is pretty obvious is that when Parsons sits down to negotiate his next contract, he will have to be paid like a wing, more specifically, he will have to be paid in the range of the top earners at that position, like Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ersWhen Bosa signed a five-year, $170 million extension in 2023, it automatically meant that would be Parsons’ base number when he came to negotiate with the Cowboys down the road.
“I’m super happy for Bosa,” Parsons said in a statement on the 2023 season. “He showed why he was the best player in the league last season,” he continued.
Now that Prescott and Lamb have their new contracts with the Cowboys, the attention of the media and fans has focused on Parsons, who says he is calm about the situation and reaffirmed his confidence in staying with the team despite the fact that the intentions of the team’s owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, to negotiate have not been made public.
Asked directly about Parsons’ situation, Jones’ son Stephen, who also serves as a club executive, implied the team would not make any short-term moves to secure Parsons’ future.
“There’s nothing on the table right now,” Stephen Jones said in an interview with a Dallas radio station. “Micah made a decision and he thinks he can have a great year. I think he got off to a great start against the Browns. His actions speak louder than his words.”
Parsons’ bet is clear: If he can even surpass his 2023 year, the money the 49ers gave Bosa should be considered small potatoes compared to what the Cowboys will have to offer to keep him beyond 2025.
Bland and Ferguson, the other possibilities
The corner DaRon Bland and tight end Jake Fergusonlike Parsons, are under contract in 2025. Both have been essential contributors to a team that has been – at least in the regular season – one of the most successful in the NFL in recent years.
Bland, 25, broke the NFL record in 2023 with five touchdowns on interceptions and was elected to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. The former Fresno State Bulldogs player at the collegiate level was selected in the fifth round by the Cowboys in the 2022 Draft, and was positioned to have a better campaign this year.
But Bland has entered 2024 with a fracture that keeps him off the field, so he will have to return and take over the role currently occupied by Caelen Carson, the rookie who is temporarily replacing him. For his part, Ferguson also made a leap last season, catching 71 passes in 17 games and becoming the player most sought after by Dak Prescott after CeeDee Lamb.
Ferguson is eligible for a new contract after the 2025 season, and given the lack of viable receivers behind Lamb on the current roster, it will be important for the Texas team to find a way to keep him in their ranks in the medium term.
