Micah Parsons contract negotiation: Jerry Jones compares process to Emmitt Smith, Dak Prescott

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones seemingly isn’t worried about Micah Parsons‘ contract negotiations. Last week, the star EDGE officially requested a trade after the team failed to reach out to his agent about a new contract.

The exercised the fifth-year option on Parsons’ rookie contract, but will have to either sign him to a new contract or franchise tag him after this season to prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent. In an exclusive interview with USA Today‘s Jarrett Bell, Jerry Jones compared Parsons’ situation to previous Cowboys contract negotiations.

“It took a long time with Emmitt Smith,” Jones said. “Same thing with (Zack) Martin two years ago. (CeeDee) Lamb last year. When you have the ability for players under contract to basically renegotiate or say, ‘I’m not going to play the contract,’ then you have those things happen.”

Emmitt Smith infamously held out in 1993, awaiting a new contract from the Cowboys. The star running back skipped all of the Cowboys’ training camp and the team’s first two games before the organization finally relented.

Jones was in his fourth year as the Cowboys’ owner at the time. More recently, CeeDee Lamb skipped the Cowboys voluntary workouts, mandatory minicamp and training camp last season while holding out for a new contract.

In turn, he and the Cowboys agreed on a a four-year, $136 million deal, with $100 million guaranteed and a $38 million signing bonus. Unlike Smith and Lamb, Parsons isn’t skipping the Cowboys’ training camp, in order to avoid fines from the NFL.

In his conversation with Bell, Jones also pointed to Dak Prescott and DeMarcus Lawrence‘s contract negotiations. Both players were franchise tagged twice before eventually signing a long-term deal with the Cowboys.

“Both of those players, they played their contract out,” Jones said. “To me, you’re going through a process where a player wants to see if they can get an extended contract. And if they don’t they play their contract out.”

After this season, the Cowboys could technically use their franchise tag on Parson to keep him with the team until 2028. However, obstacles could emerge if Parsons were to take a page out of Emmitt Smith’s playbook and refuse to play for the team.

It would be a significant loss for the organization that hasn’t won a Super Bowl since 1995. Parsons is only the second player in NFL history to record 12 sacks in each of his four seasons in the league.

Micah Parsons tallied 43 tackles, 12 sacks and two forced fumbles last season despite missing four games due to injury. He is a two-time First-Team All-Pro and was the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.