OXNARD, Calif. -- Dallas Cowboys All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons acknowledged he is discouraged that a long-term deal has not been reached with the organization.
"When you go around the league and you see these other teams taking care of their best guys, I seen T.J. [Watt] gotten taken care of. Maxx [Crosby] got taken care of. Myles [Garrett] got taken care of, [and] he's got two years left on his deal," Parsons said after Tuesday's practice. "You see a lot of people around the league taken care of, and you wish you had that same type of energy."
The Pittsburgh Steelers signed Watt to a three-year, $123 million extension with $108 million guaranteed. Earlier in the offseason, the Las Vegas Raiders signed Crosby to a three-year, $106.5 million extension with $91.5 million guaranteed, and the Cleveland Browns signed Garrett to a four-year deal worth $160 million with $123.5 million guaranteed.
"I feel like I'm the best at what I do," Parsons said. "You can argue whoever, but stats, numbers don't lie. The consistency is there, and the availability is there."
Parsons has recorded 52.5 sacks in his first four seasons, trailing only Reggie White (70), Derrick Thomas (58), J.J. Watt (57) and DeMarcus Ware (53.5) since sacks became an official stat in 1982. Parsons and White are the only players to record at least 12 sacks in each of their first four seasons, and Parsons reached 12 last season despite sitting out four games because of a high ankle sprain.
On Monday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones raised some eyebrows when mentioning that a contract does not prevent a player from missing games to injury, noting that Dak Prescott missed nine games in 2024 after he signed the richest contract in NFL history.
Parsons said he did not find the comment hurtful, and he's not taken a prolonged negotiation personally. He saw Prescott and CeeDee Lamb go through similar talks last year.
"When there's a chain of events of things consistently happening over the course of years here, you've kind of seen it before so you don't take it personally," Parsons said. "This is not like I'm getting treated differently than anybody else. I don't take it personal. I just don't understand."
Said cornerback Trevon Diggs, "He's the best player in the NFL, like, why wouldn't you pay him?"
Parsons and Jones met in March in the owner's office at The Star. Jones said he and Parsons came to an agreement on the length, guaranteed money and total money on a deal. While Jones might have thought a deal was close, Parsons told the organization to speak with his agent, David Mulugheta. To date, neither Jerry not Stephen Jones have spoken with Mulugheta.
Parsons was on the practice field Monday, but he did not do very much, except for holding a tackling dummy in one drill. He was mostly a spectator, speaking with teammates at different times as well as doing some conditioning work. He said after practice he was dealing with some back tightness, which is why he did not do much in the June minicamp either.
He said once his back feels better, he would do more in practice.
"I've been pretty consistent. If they don't want me here, they don't want me here and I'll go about my business. I understand the nature of the business," Parsons said. "Like I said, as far as I'm here and under contract, I'll do what I have to perform at the highest level but at the end this is the business. Same way Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones and the other Jerry Jones take care of their family is the same way I need to take care of my family. I've got three kids of my own, so we all need to take care of our own family at the end of the day."
