Cowboys Micah Parsons New Contract: NFL-Record $32 Million A Year?
FRISCO - At first blush, and meaning no offense to the brilliance of Micah Parsons, the number seems gigantic.
But the evidence and the math add up: The Dallas Cowboys, who are presently benefiting from employing arguably the NFL’:s best defensive player at his present rookie-contract rate, better be prepared to soon give Parsons a deal that may cost at least $32 million per year … good enough to be the richest contract for a defensive player in league history.
The Cowboys’ “Lion-backer”’s future number - he is eligible to sign a contract extension after this 2023 - is bolstered by ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, who projects that Parsons will land at that $32 million APY.
A big part of the logic? A quick look at Micah’s contemporaries paints the picture.
“The player at the top of the edge rusher market is (Pittsburgh’s) T.J. Watt, whose deal averages just over $28 million per season,” Barnwell writes. “Nick Bosa (of the Niners) is likely to become the first defensive player to average $30 million per season on a new deal when he signs an extension this offseason.
“Parsons is eligible for his own extension next year, and barring catastrophic injury, it should come in somewhere around $32 million per season.”
The Cowboys hold a few cards here. Among those: None of this is news to them. The coming deals for Trevon Diggs and CeeDee Lamb and Micah (along with one for Dak Prescott, which will actually be a room-creator) are part of the Joneses’ “pie” financial vision.
Another: While we continue to believe that sooner is almost always better (more affordable) than later, Dallas can sit on this deal through 2026, Parsons still has two seasons remaining on his existing four-year, $17 million contract, and Dallas can opt to exercise the star’s fifth-year option for 2025.
Doing that will, however, simply be delaying the inevitable … a rising cost, albeit coming as the NFL salary cap will also rise.
There are also future franchise tags and other tools that can be utilized. But there is no argument “against” Parsons getting paid in the sense that having earned two Pro Bowl nominations, two All-Pro team honors and acclaim as a potential NFL sack leader … he has exceeded all expectations.
And someday, it seems, Micah Parsons will also exceed all his defensive counterparts in salary.
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