The Cowboys don’t care about winning as much as they claim to care about winning.
If they did, they wouldn’t consistently drag their feet when it comes to the contracts earned by key players. They’ve done it several times in recent years, from Ezekiel Elliott to Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb to Dak Prescott (again) to Micah Parsons.
With the Cowboys reporting for training camp on Monday, the question becomes whether Parson will (like Elliott and Lamb) hold out or (like Dak) show up. The middle ground is to hold in — to show up and not practice until he has his deal.
The last option would be a mistake, in our view. It would be a mistake because it would allow the Cowboys to keep dragging their feet, beyond Week 1 of the 2025 season.
While a hold in avoids fines while also protecting the player from a practice injury, the team acquires all the leverage once the player reports. It becomes much harder for the player to walk out or to refuse to play, given the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. And it sets the stage for what happened several years ago between the Bears and linebacker Roquan Smith; at some point, it will be time to go to work, even if there’s no new deal.
We’ve seen what the Cowboys do, time and time again. Elliott and Lamb got what they deserved by staying away. And while Prescott showed up, his leverage came not from holding out but from the prospect of not getting a deal done. Faced last September with Prescott hitting free agency (and leaving behind a massive dead-money charge) in March 2025, the Cowboys blinked, making Prescott the highest-paid player in the league.
If Micah shows up, the Cowboys won’t have to blink. They can ride it out, paying him $24 million for 2025 and applying the franchise tag in 2026. At this point, it’s not as if the edge-rusher market will go up before the end of the season. Why not make him continue to carry the injury risk for another year?
That’s why, if Parsons were my son, brother, nephew, cousin, client, or friend, I’d tell him to stay away. Sure, he faces (under the fifth-year option) daily fines of $40,000 and $1.33 million for each preseason game missed. They’re waivable for players playing under their rookie deals. And the amounts are peanuts in comparison to the contract he stands to get.
The only way for Parsons to get every penny he’s owed at this point is to stay away. If he shows up, they’ll try to lowball him. Especially since they’d love to change the well-earned narrative that they bungle these negotiations.
Prediction: If he shows up, the Cowboys will eventually make him a final offer well below what he’d get if he holds out. And, if he doesn’t take their last, best offer, they’ll try to kick the can into 2026.
Second prediction: if he doesn’t show up, he’ll get what he deserves not long before Week 1.
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