Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer reveals star Micah Parsons is not currently attending OTAs

Amid ongoing contract negotiations, star defender Micah Parsons has not been seen by Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer this week at OTAs. The first-year coach told reporters as much on Thursday.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Jon Machota, Schottenheimer reiterated that OTAs for the team are voluntary right now. So Parsons’ absence isn’t necessarily a huge concern.

Still, some fans have to be nervous. Ongoing discussions have yet to produce a contract extension for Micah Parsons.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones provided the latest in mid-May, admitting it’s “a work in progress” at the moment. Jones remains confident Micah Parsons will be with the team moving forward, as both sides have an interest in getting the extension done at some point.

“I’ve never been one to crystal ball when contracts get done,” Jones said. “You can be close, you think you’re right around the corner, and then they get pushed out and there’s extenuating circumstances as to why they or their agent don’t wanna pull the trigger. So, that’s just a work in progress.

“It’s never easy to comment on them because you really don’t know where you are until both sides are ready to go. But obviously our goal is to, and we have visited at times with Micah, and our goal is to get him here. And I think Micah wants to be a Cowboy, and we want him to be a Cowboy long term.”

Micah Parsons will be one of the highest-paid players in the NFL when he eventually agrees to a new contract, either with Dallas or someone else. He’s a two-time first-team All-Pro, while he has been named to four Pro Bowls.

In four seasons, Parsons has logged 256 tackles, 63.0 tackles for a loss, 52.5 sacks, nine forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and one defensive touchdown.

Worst case scenario for Dallas, though, Micah Parsons still intends to play this fall. He has confirmed he will not hold out and plans to be at training camp later this summer.

“It’s extremely important,” Parsons said, via Patrik Walker of DallasCowboys.com of training camp. “I mean, you really see a lot of players struggle when guys aren’t participating in camp and they’re getting off to slow starts. Don’t wanna get off to a slow start. I wanna hit the ground running and establish ourselves in this league and get some wins early in the season and be in rhythm. It’s gonna be extremely important for me to get going and lead these guys.”

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this report.