The Brian Schottenheimer era is officially underway as the Dallas Cowboys embark on their first practice of voluntary OTAs on Monday.

Schottenheimer has gotten ringing endorsements from players early in his tenure. While intensity won’t be firing on all cylinders, the start of offseason workouts means Schottenheimer and Dallas’ revamped coaching staff can finally sink their teeth into the roster.

Generally speaking, OTAs are most important for first-year coaches and young players. However, it is equally important for team veterans to impose their leadership by simply reporting.

Micah Parsons’ attendance in particular has been a sensitive subject. You might remember Parsons taking some heat for missing the start of OTAs last year. He has since promised to step up as a leader and he proved that in spades throughout the 2024 campaign.

One could understand if Parsons staged a contract holdout this year as he waits to sign his extension. However, multiple reports have confirmed that Parsons was among the many players, including Dak Prescott, who filed in to The Star on Monday morning.

Micah Parsons reporting for Cowboys OTAs sends powerful message to Jerry Jones

Numerous star players over the years have skipped the start of OTAs while entrenched in contract talks with their respective teams. After all, this part of the offseason program is voluntary until mandatory minicamp, which runs from June 10-12 for Dallas.

It is dumbfounding that Jerry Jones hasn’t got Parsons to sign on the dotted line yet. It would be hard to blame the All-Pro pass rusher if he held out to light a fire under the front office. It sends a much more powerful message to show up amid his contract standoff, however.

While it remains to be seen how limited Parsons will be at practice, his attendance alone is massive for the team and Schottenheimer.

Part of Parsons’ commitment to stepping up as a leader was vowing to be present for the start of OTAs. He said as much in December and Schottenheimer stated he expected Parsons to follow through. The 25-year-old did not let his new coach down.

That speaks volumes when you consider Parsons wanted his extension done as early as possible to give the front office more financial wiggle room. The Joneses, though, have predictably dragged their feet despite being spoon-fed a soft deadline.

Sure enough, multiple star pass rushers have since inked lucrative deals, including Myles Garrett, Danielle Hunter and Maxx Crosby. Garrett raised the baseline for Parsons’ contract by getting $40 million per year and $124 million guaranteed from the Browns.

Parsons is going to negotiate the Joneses under the table. Just as Prescott and CeeDee Lamb did last offseason. Having said that, it is a huge step in the right direction for Dallas and Schottenheimer that Parsons did not let contract talks influence his OTA attendance.