The Micah Parsons saga doesn't appear to be any closer to reaching a resolution, despite the Cowboys getting their season underway in just a couple of weeks.
Jerry Jones made an appearance on Michael Irvin's podcast Thursday to discuss the situation involving Dallas's superstar defender, and explain why the contract negotiations have been so arduous.
Jones didn't hold back, either, as he scathed Parsons's agent David Mulugheta.
"When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass," Jones told Irvin. "Just so we're clear."
"Micah and I talked, and then we were gonna send it over to the agent. We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything. We were gonna send it over the agent, and the agent said 'Don't bother, because we've got all that to negotiate,'" Jones explained. "The issue, very frankly, is, we've had the negotiation in my mind, and the agent is trying to get his nose in it… and try to come in there and improve off the market we've already set."
Jones went on to compare the behavior to a child asking both parents for the same thing in hopes of getting a different answer to get their way.
Mulugheta Flatly Denied Jones’s Claim When Asked by ESPN’s Ryan Clark
Shortly after Irvin's interview with Jones was posted, ESPN's Ryan Clark contacted Mulugheta to ask if he actually told Jones to "stick it up his a—."
"[Mulugheta] laughed and he said, 'I've never used that phrase in my life,'" Clark said. "… For Jerry Jones saying that, this is false. This never happened. This is just another public way to make this situation, which is already ugly, even uglier. David Mulugheta in no way has ever told Jerry Jones, or any other general manager or owner that. It's all bullcrap, it's all lies."
So once again, the two sides of this negotiation are not aligned on what was said between parties. That is a pretty important aspect of a negotiation! It’s not the first time this has happened.
Communication Between the Cowboys and Parsons’s Camp Has Been Rough From the Start
Cowboys fans might be able to roll their eyes and laugh off this latest standoff between Jones and Parsons if not for the way negotiations have been going for over a year now.
Earlier in August, Jones told reporters that he believed he had a deal in place with Parsons after speaking personally with him in March. Mulugheta was not present when the conversation took place, and obviously, nothing was signed.
Parsons explained the interaction from his perspective.
"In March I met with Mr. Jones to talk about leadership," Parsons wrote in his trade demand. "Somehow the conversation turned into him talking contract with me. Yes I engaged in a back and forth in regards to what I wanted from my contract, but at no point did I believe this was supposed to be a formal negotiation and I informed Mr. Jones afterward my agent would reach out thinking this would get things done. But when my agent reached out and spoke to Adam he was told the deal was pretty much already done. My agent of course told him that wasn't the case and also reached out to Stephen Jones. Again the team decided to go silent."
As far as Jones is concerned, the negotiations were made directly with Parsons, sealed and ready to be signed, only for Mulugheta to hold up the deal by asking for more.
"I bought the Dallas Cowboys with a handshake," Jones said when recounting the meeting with Parsons, per's Jon Machota. "It took about 30 seconds. I gave the number, shook hands, the details we worked out later.”
As far as Mulugheta is concerned, that is not how deals are done in today’s world, and negotiations haven’t even really started yet, because those talks with numbers happened without him, the agent in charge of representing Parsons and his business interests, was not present.
Considering we're just two weeks out from the season opener, Jones's decision to speak publicly to Irvin about the situation may have significant windfalls in the coming days. Parsons has already requested a trade from the organization, something Jones claimed was merely a negotiating tactic.
Parsons is entering the final year of his rookie contract and is set to make just over $24 million under the fifth-year option. He'll be an unrestricted free agent in 2026 if he doesn't sign a new deal with the Cowboys. Of course, any contract for Parsons would almost certainly make him the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL, a raise he's earned with his play on the field.
Ultimately, this contract standoff seems far from over.
