FRISCO, Texas -- While speaking on the Michael Irvin's YouTube channel, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the agreement he believes he made with Micah Parsons "would've made him the highest-paid guaranteed player other than a quarterback in the NFL."
"Nobody appreciates Micah Parsons more than the Cowboys or me," Jones said. "Nobody has ever offered him more money than I have to play football. Period."
As he did in early April from the NFL Owners' meetings, Jones blamed the agent, David Mulugheta, for the deal not being finalized as the Cowboys close in on the Sept. 4 opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass," Jones said. "Just so you're clear."
There have been no negotiations regarding a new deal since.
When Parsons made his trade request public on Aug. 1, he said the meeting he called for with Jones was about leadership but the owner quickly turned the discussion to Parsons' contract. He said a deal would not be done without Mulugheta's involvement.
Jones said he and Parsons agreed to the length of the deal, guaranteed money and total money.
"I've agreed to give more money than has ever been given in terms of guaranteed money than anyone ever has as far as a defensive player," Jones said. "I've done that. Now, I am the cat that writes the check. Now Micah's got three years with the Cowboys left. He's got three years. At some point somebody has to have the say over the other. At some point it has to be that way.
"My job is managing the check, OK? Micah's got to do the playing. Where's the least important part of this whole equation that we're talking about? ... The attorney or the agent, OK? He works for Micah."
While in Oxnard, California, for the team's training camp, Jones mentioned "guaranteeing somebody close to $200 million" when he discussed Parsons' contract. Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns has the highest guarantee for a non-quarterback at $123.5 million, followed by San Francisco's Nick Bosa ($119.9 million) and Cincinnati wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase ($112 million).
Also on Irvin's YouTube channel, Jones added, "We've got this deal resolved, in my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys. We've got it done, and if the agents want to finish up the details, which he should [do] and do all the paperwork, he can do that. And we're ready to go, but as far as the amount of money, years, guarantees, we've negotiated that."
Jones appears content to let Parsons play this season on the fifth-year option, which costs $21.324 million, and consider using the franchise tags in the future. On Wednesday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he was confident Parsons would be on the field for the season opener against the Eagles.
"We've really got three years to work this thing out," Jones said. "It's a basic contract. It's there to go. I did that with Dak [Prescott]. And we couldn't agree, so Dak played his last year of his contract, then we franchised him. So it's exactly what happened with Dak, and we moved forward, and ultimately we got a contract and made Dak the highest-paid player in the NFL. So the precedent is handling it like Dak. ... If he doesn't, it's very costly. It's very costly for everybody."
