Cowboys Contracts: Micah Parsons Reacts to Salary Boost in Next New Deal
FRISCO - Once upon a time, NFL players - certainly Dallas Cowboys players who won three Super Bowls in four years in the 1990's - didn't talk very openly about their money. Really, in the locker room at Valley Ranch, it was a taboo.
Times - and money - have changed.
This week it was announced that available cap space for teams will skyrocket to $255.4 million for the 2024 campaign, about $9 million more than expected.
And Micah Parsons is highly aware.
On the one hand, per common perception, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and staff have "additional money'' to spend.
On the other hand, per reality, Cowboys players are going to want, and get, larger slices of the larger pie.
Enter Micah, who reacted on Twitter to the news of the new cap with emojis of "money with wings,'' commonly used to signify wealth.
Yes, Micah is going to get his ... starting with a new number for his 2025 guarantee as a result of the Cowboys' no-brainer decision to exercise his fifth-year option by the May 2 deadline. He's already under contract for 2024 (at a bargain $5.4 million), but now, in '25, he'll be locked in to a new number ...
Of either $24 million or $21 million.
Why the question? What we don't know yet is if he'll be ID'ed as an outside linebacker (which gets him the larger number) or as a defensive end (which nets the smaller number). We will assume the larger if only because we can envision the public protest Micah will lead if Dallas does it the other way.
Before all that has to happen, of course, Dallas can preemptively do a deal now; Parsons - after yet another great year in which he totaled a career-high 14 sacks and was once again a first-team All-Pro - is now eligible for a new contract. ... and one that we envision will pay him in excess of $30 million APY, maybe making him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.
There are other priorities, too. The decision on quarterback Dak Prescott and his $59.4 million cap hit is due by March 13, when NFL teams must be cap-compliant. Dallas wideout CeeDee Lamb is also eligible for a deal that might pay him almost $30 million APY as well.
Dak's deal is needed to give Dallas room (as much as $20 million's worth). Lamb's deal will also reduce his cap impact, by about half down from its present $17 million. And all of that can add up to room for Parsons, who has reason to be eying the 49ers' deal with Nick Bosa - a five-year, $170 million extension that includes $122.5 million guaranteed and averages $34 million APY.
That's where we're going here. So ... the raised ceiling is nice. The $21 million/$24 million is nicer. But the idea of $34 million APY and $170 million total? Yes, those emoji dollars rightfully have emoji wings.
