Cowboys' Micah Parsons makes big guarantee about contract extension

As of the morning of July 16, Dallas Cowboys star pass-rusher Micah Parsons remained on track to report to training camp on July 21 without having his desired contract extension in hand. 

While speaking at his football camp on Tuesday, Parsons offered quite a prediction regarding his financial future. 

"...I'm just going to get mine no matter what," Parsons said, as shared by Nick Farabaugh of PennLive. "You know what I mean? Like, the markets change every year. Their salary cap went up, like, another 18% this year. So, if you want to know contracts, all the contracts are based off of percentage. Like, each player, a high-paid player, takes a percentage of the salary cap. So, it’s not really the number. It goes off by the salary cap."

As recently as this past Monday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated indicated that Parsons will almost certainly better the four-year, $160M extension that included $123.5M guaranteed that Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns signed in March. How much more guaranteed money Parsons will receive could be impacted by the statuses of Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt and Cincinnati Bengals edge-rusher Trey Hendrickson, two other noteworthy players who are seeking lucrative extensions ahead of the upcoming season. 

"...They numbers got nothing to do with mine, and my numbers ain’t got nothing to do with them," Parsons said about the current market for players at the position. "...Everyone’s circumstance is different." 

Parsons, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, attended Dallas' mandatory minicamp in June. Per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, it's "unlikely" Parsons will do more than participate in individual drills during training camp until he inks a deal. 

"I just work harder," Parsons added about staying focused while waiting to receive an extension to his liking. "Like, to me, I look at it like if people don’t see your value, you don’t cry and sit down. You just work harder. You got to show people your value. I just think that’s the difference. Like I go, okay, bet, and I just work."

The Cowboys signed both wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to contract extensions last summer. There's no indication that team owner and general manager Jerry Jones plans to trade Parsons before Week 1 of the 2025 campaign arrives, but it also sounds like the 26-year-old is in no rush to give Dallas a hometown discount.