FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys and superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons are going to eventually come to terms, we are quite certain, on what figures to be a record $200 million contract, based on the reporting of our Cowboys insider Mike Fisher.
But as Parsons is attending voluntary workouts this week despite the ongoing negotiations – expected as he enters into a new era of leadership – there are still bumps along the road.
And Fisher, who has covered the Jones-era Cowboys for 35 years, is blasting the organization for its odd “bed-side manner” approach in public.
What’s Fish bothered by? A rather shocking update from COO Stephen Jones that Fish asserts “is a terrible effort in ‘reading the room.”
Was owner Jerry Jones’ pretending he didn’t know Micah’s agent David Mulughata funny and maybe even innocuous? Possibly.
But is Stephen’s new “Art of the Deal” approach to explaining himself “funny and innocuous”?
Not to Fish, who dissects Stephen’s remarks (via 105.3 The Fan) below …
From Stephen: “We’re trying to get them to come a little our way, and take into account some of the things that are positive about playing for the Cowboys. … playing in Texas, and those types of things.”
Fish responds: “To a great degree, the bloom is off The Star. ‘Play for us for less because we’re ‘America’s Team” is, with plenty of evidence, not a successful pitch.”
From Stephen: “The cost of living compared to some of these bigger cities and the NFL certainly comes into account. And, at the end of the day, we’re looking for some credit for that.”
Fish responds: “Is the semi-GM of the Dallas Cowboys really trying to tell grown men making millions of dollars that they should consider ‘cost of living’?
“That shouldn’t be what the Cowboys hang their hats on. What about, you know, winning?
“And think about this: If a guy is signing for $1 million, he’s here for one year. He’s renting an apartment and then in February he’s leaving. And if a guy is making $40 million a year, like Micah will be? You really think he cares about the cost of a loaf of bread?
“It actually strikes me as insulting. Sign with Dallas instead of with Detroit or Buffalo because we have nicer weather? That doesn’t sound like a contract negotiation; that sounds like something a dad would say to his 10-year-old.
“By the way, this ‘no state income tax in Texas’ thing, which also comes up? As most Texans come to learn, it’s somewhat bogus. We still pay for our fire departments and our street maintenance, you know. No state income tax but higher sales and property taxes.
“So that’s an empty benefit, too, Stephen.”
From Stephen: “We’re going to spend to the cap, year-in and year-out, and over the course of time, we’re gonna spend our money to try to get as many good players as we can.
“That’s ‘The Art of the Deal.”
Fish responds: “First off, the Cowboys absolutely do not ‘spend to the cap.’ Justify it if we wish, but they literally did not spend $19 million in 2024 – that’s how they carried it over to this year’s cap. And presently, Dallas has $36 million of room.
“So he’s simply misinforming Cowboys Nation there.
“And secondly, and please know that I like and respect Stephen and that I’m not one to take cheap shots at him. But … using ‘The Art of the Deal’ as a foundation of his presentation is almost as bad as his ‘air quotes’ dismissal of the idea of the ‘Cowboys Super Bowl drought.’
‘The Art of the Deal’ is of course the book written by now-President Donald Trump, You can like the president and you can like the book, or you can dislike both. But the semi-GM of the Dallas Cowboys – already under heat from the public – does himself no favors by mixing his politics with his football.
“It’s a bad bit of PR bedside manner. And if the push in negotiations is pretty much, ‘Sign with us for less because we have nice weather and low prices on eggs?’
“That’s a lame, losing pitch. And there is no ‘art’ in that sort of ‘dealing.”
