Micah Parsons changes his wardrobe, but not his stance, as ‘Pay Micah’ looms over Cowboys camp

OXNARD, California — It’s almost impossible to walk through the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp grounds in Oxnard when the fans are in the stands and not hear the “Pay Micah” chants directed at their superstar pass-rusher, who watched Monday’s action with minimal expression from the sidelines and then beelines off the field at practice’s conclusion. 

Thanks to contentious contract negotiations between All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and the Jones family, Parsons is holding in, meaning he stands off to the side in sweatpants while the rest of the team practices. 

What changed over the weekend was Parsons stopped wearing his No. 11 practice jersey over his sweats after hitting a breaking point in his contract talks. That led to an officially submitted trade request to Cowboys COO and EVP Stephen Jones. The wardrobe change didn’t bother first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer, in his own words, but Parsons did return to wearing his practice jersey over his sweats on Monday, the 10th practice of Cowboys training camp. 

“Not a big deal,” Schottenheimer said Monday. “We want all of our guys to be the same, and then again, there’s usually a reason if a guy’s not in that. But again, for the most part, we’re a team. We’re going to always act like a team and usually you’ll see them all in gear.”

A bigger change in Schottenheimer’s eyes with Parsons holding in is the rest of the 26-year-old’s Dallas teammates missing out on reps against arguably the NFL’s best edge rusher.

Schottenheimer specifically cited the growth 2024 first-round pick left tackle Tyler Guyton experienced going up against Parsons this time a year ago when talking about what Dallas is missing out on in 2025. 

“The first one that jumps off the film is probably that… selfishly for us from an offensive standpoint, is not having that elite speed edge rusher coming off the corner,” Schottenheimer said.

“But, you know [2025 second-round pick] Donovan [Ezeiruaku] has done a great job. [Veteran] Dante Fowler is having a great camp, so it’s not like we’re short of guys that have elite speed coming off the edge and bending corners.”   

Parsons’ defensive teammates — Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs, safety Juanyeh Thomas and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown — showed support by changing their Twitter profile pictures to Parsons himself. That energy remains the same at practice on Monday. 

“Yeah, obviously that’s my dog. I love him, and I want him to make, obviously hope he can stay,” edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland said.”That’s my dog, but I don’t want to say too much about it because obviously it’s not in my hands. But you know we love him here.”

One might think young teammates like Kneeland, a 2024 second-round pick, would lowkey relish the extra reps available in training camp to make an impression for new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Believe it or not, that’s not something crossing anyone’s mind. They just want Parsons re-signed and back on the field alongside them. 

“I think obviously we want him here,” Kneeland said. “He’s a brother. He’s been here his whole career, obviously my whole career. Yeah, so it’s all, you know, how the cards play out. Time will tell.”  

Vetaran safety Malik Hooker sounded the part of somebody who had been seen a holdout (or hold-in) or too and appreciated Parsons’ presence. 

“Me personally, I try not to get into all that because just the business aspect of it there’s a lot that’s required,” he said. “A lot of talk that goes in there, so I kind of try not to pay any mind to it. Micah is a special player. We love him. He’s a big part of what we’re building here, and he’s a big part of what we already built here. So it’s definitely a great thing to have him out there.”

As for the elephant in California, the potential for Parsons to be traded? That’s being left alone in the corner. Dallas’ coaching staff is operating by the “hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil” philosophy when it comes to considering Parsons in another NFL team’s uniform. 

“We’re still planning on moving Micah around and putting him in all the spots that we see him and using our fronts the way we want to see it,” Schottenheimer said. “We go about our business every day. We focus in the moment and again like I said … I expect Micah to be here.”