Cowboys’ Dak Prescott highlights necessity for Jerry Jones to call Micah Parsons, Parsons’ agent

OXNARD, California — Everyone involved in and around All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons’ contract negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys is frustrated. 

Parsons himself didn’t attend the teams’ 12th training camp practice on Thursday, marking a first since the Dallas Cowboys arrived in Oxnard, California. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones expressed a lack of confidence after practice on Tuesday about Parsons’ availability for the 2025 NFL season opener on Sept. 4 at the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott texted Parsons in frustration a few days ago to Parsons after the 26-year-old posted that he requested a trade. 

“Personal conversations of somebody who has been through what he’s going through,” Prescott said after practice on Thursday when asked about specifics of his latest texts with Parsons. “It was more like ‘What’s going on?’ … It was just frustration that this is going on, and I can say from experience that it’s just frustrating and I hate that he’s going through it. As I’ve told him [Parsons], keep handling things the way that you are, and I believe he should be paid.” 

A key component to Prescott getting both his four-year, $160 million extension in 2021 and his four-year, $240 million extension in 2024 was that the quarterback never spoke about specific numbers in chats with Jerry and Stephen Jones. That’s the sticking point in negotiations between Parsons and the Jones family right now. Parsons, in his public post announcing his trade, revealed he had a chat with Jerry Jones in March that he presumed was going to be about leadership. Instead, Jones began to ask him about contract terms. Parsons ended up engaging in surface-level contract particulars, which he thought was an informal conversation. Jones said on Tuesday that he views verbal numbers talks as formal since that’s how he purchased the Cowboys back in 1989. There haven’t been any talks between Parsons and Jones since despite Parsons asking the Jones family to connect with David Mulugheta, his agent. 

“I never engaged in [contract] numbers [with Jerry and Stephen Jones],” Prescott said. “There was a lot of engagement, especially on this last one. The first one, maybe not so much of anything, but this last one, yeah there were definitely some talks. Definitely different talks, particularly with Stephen, and they were great talks. They were phenomenal talks.”

With those talks, Prescott was able to understand the Jones family’s vision for both Dallas’ coaching staff, roster and everything else related to football operations. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback may not have re-signed with the Cowboys hours before kickoff in Week 1 last season on his four-year, $240 million extension without developing his relationship with Jerry and Stephen Jones. 

“Honestly, [I] don’t know if I do re-sign if we don’t have those conversations, and it was much more than the numbers,” Prescott said. “So that’s why those conversations were needed, and [I’m] thankful that we got to that position. I don’t know if we would have [gotten closer] without the contracts being up in the air, but what they did is allow us to get to grow closer and actually create a relationship that’s only just built more and more and more. So there’s different ways to go about different things. For me, yeah it was necessary to have those conversations. … They knew that I wouldn’t have those [numbers] conversations with them.”

So why didn’t Jerry and Stephen Jones engage Prescott in numbers talk? They knew the veteran passer would simply refer them to his agent, Todd France. Parsons has both publicly and privately asked the Jones family to get in touch with Mulugheta, but it’s clear it’s going to take Jerry Jones coming to grips on his March chat with Parsons being informal. 

“To an extent, yeah. I think you should trust your representation, and that’s what they’re there for, simple as that,” Prescott said. “I don’t want to talk about somebody else’s situation, but I think you just do have to trust your representation, and I think 11 [Parsons] is doing that.”

Parsons kicked off the start of negotiations with a Jan. 10 meeting in Jerry Jones’ suite at the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinals, and he has asked Jones to get in touch with his representation. The elder Jones still hasn’t spoken with Parsons since his trade request last Friday. In Prescott’s experience, he was willing to pick up the phone and meet with the Jones family even when things got personal. Back then, they reached out to him. 

“At the end of the day, I’m a grown man, and if another man wants to speak to me, I’m going to speak to him right? I think that’s where those conversations started with me and Stephen and the Joneses,” Prescott said. “There were some conversations that needed to happen outside of the numbers and outside of the contract and the language. … You can have a lot of conversations and even progress without talking about the exact numbers or even getting into the numbers. It’s a balance, but when both parties understand that ‘hey, we’re not going to go down that road’ a lot of things can be handled and talked [through] real quickly.” 

The problem in Parsons’ case is things have become personal in his eyes. He posted that he didn’t appreciate “shots taken” at him for missing four games with an ankle sprain in 2024. That’s where things get messy for the Cowboys when they embark on long-term contract extensions with their star players. The Jones family will speak their feelings and negotiate through the media. They did that with both Prescott and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb last offseason before eventually re-signing both of them. Prescott still believes it’s possible for Parsons to overcome what he perceives as personal slights. Doing so, in the quarterback’s eyes, would have to involve a deal getting done, which is tricky since neither side is engaging in contract talks at the moment. 

“At the end of the day, it is business, and we can’t make something [that’s] business [something] personal,” Prescott said. “I think that’s when the division comes. … Yeah, it’s hard to [not make it personal] for sure when it’s you, and you’re in the mix, 1,000%. That’s why I said it’s frustrating. It’s somebody that’s been there so… if you’re making it personal, and it’s not about you, then you’re wrong. … Once that business deal happens, you can move forward.”

Even though Parsons did request a trade, Prescott hasn’t allowed himself to consider the possibility of one of the league’s best pass rushers no longer being his teammate. To ensure Prescott and Parsons remain teammates, Jerry and Stephen Jones need to pick up the phone and talk to Parsons and his agent. That’s how the healing begins as their quarterback alluded to. Both the Jones family and Parsons need to remind each of the fact that their frustrations toward each other at the moment are strictly business-related. Getting to that point will involve both sides coming together to talk, and it’s on the Jones family to restart that process following prior Parsons’ efforts to chat. 

“No, not necessarily,” Prescott said when asked if he’d thought about Parsons going elsewhere. “I think if I wouldn’t have been in his shoes, and watched other guys be in his shoes and get rewarded, maybe. But I’ve got faith in the Joneses and the team as I do in Micah and his team. … Eleven is a Cowboy.”