Jerry Jones’ Handling of Micah Parsons Dispute Is ‘Unethical,’ Says Nick Wright

Another day has passed, and Micah Parsons still doesn’t have a new deal with the Dallas Cowboys.

One day after Parsons’ fiery trade request on Aug. 1, owner Jerry Jones had a brazen response to growing concerns surrounding the situation, insisting the standoff with the All-Pro pass rusher is no different from past situations he has dealt with. “Don’t lose any sleep over it,” Jones said. “That’s the one thing I would say to our fans.”

That led FOX Sports’ Nick Wright to outwardly criticize Jones on Monday’s edition of “First Things First.”

“The entire … press gathering was kind of surreal, even by Jerry’s standards,” he said. “The whole thing was bizarre, but what is very, very clear to me is two things. One of which is: Jerry feels like they (he and Parsons) had an agreement, and he wants to stick to it — and I think that that is an unethical way to do business. … My other big takeaway is this: Jerry wants to be the star of this negotiation. He made that very clear. … 

“I think ultimately it (a new deal) gets done. I don’t think Micah gets traded. I think Jerry ends up caving, but I also think … even if it gets done, they damaged the relationship significantly.”

Parsons and the Cowboys began contract discussions in January. Some discourse arose in April when Jones mentioned at the NFL’s annual league meeting that he was communicating directly with Parsons about a potential new deal, while Parsons let it be known that he wouldn’t be doing any deal without his agent, David Mulugheta, involved.

In June, Parsons said that he was “hanging in tight” and “hopeful” that he’d have a new deal done before the start of training camp on July 20. One day before the start of camp, Jones seemingly questioned Parsons’ durability by mentioning he missed a handful of games because of a high ankle sprain last season — the first time the 26-year-old had dealt with an injury in his professional career — when asked by reporters for an update on the negotiations.

While Parsons didn’t directly respond to Jones’ comment, he reshared a social media post from former NFL star J.J. Watt that read, in part, “Anytime you can publicly take a dig at your star quarterback and your star pass rusher simultaneously, right before the season begins, you just gotta take it.”

Parsons had reported to camp in Oxnard, California, but only observed from the sidelines and did not participate.

[MORE: Micah Parsons Next Team Odds: Will Cowboys Trade Star DE?]

Parsons made a formal trade request this month, calling out the Jones family for how they’ve handled contract negotiations and revealing that they haven’t “had a single conversation” with his agent. “I no longer want to be here,” Parsons wrote in a 1,000-plus-word statement. “I no longer want to be held to close-door negotiations without my agent present. I no longer want shots taken at me for getting injured while laying it on the line for the organization, our fans and my teammates. I no longer want narratives created and spread to the media about me.”

Parsons went on to say that he and Jones met in March to “talk about leadership” and that the conversation turned into a contract discussion. “Yes, I engaged in a back and forth [with] regards to what I wanted from my contract, but at no point did I believe this was supposed to be a formal negotiation,” Parsons revealed. “I informed Mr. Jones afterward my agent would reach out thinking this would get things done. But when my agent reached out and spoke to (director of salary cap/player contracts) Adam Prasifka, he was told the deal was pretty much already done. My agent, of course, told him that wasn’t the case and … again, the team decided to go silent.”

Jones added more fuel to the fire two days later, saying that former Cowboys star Dez Bryant — who publicly voiced his support for Parsons on social media — and Roc Nation Sports owner Jay-Z are the reason why he doesn’t like to deal with agents in players’ contract discussions. The 82-year-old told reporters that Jay-Z quit taking his calls after the two spent hours negotiating a new contract for Bryant in 2015, a claim that Roc Nation quickly refuted.

A first-round draft pick in 2021, Parsons has at least 12.0 sacks in each of his four seasons in Dallas and has 52.5 for his career. He also had 12 tackles for loss in 13 games last season. Parsons is going into the fifth and final year of his rookie deal and could be franchise tagged in 2026 without an extension. He’s set to make $24.007 million in 2025.

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