The Dallas Cowboys still have yet to extend Micah Parsons’ contract. Many hoped that the club would learn from their mistakes in waiting to pony up and pay star quarterback Dak Prescott and star receiver CeeDee Lamb. The team has yet to find a sweet spot in between paying players too much too early, like they did with LB Jaylon Smith, RB Ezekiel Elliott and OT Terence Steele, and waiting until the last minute and setting the market.
Sometimes, the team will get lucky and despite waiting be able to secure a key target on a reasonable deal. That appears to be what they worked out with DT Osa Odighizuwa, who signed before hitting free agency in March for four years, $80 million. Despite Parsons saying he didn’t need to break to bank to be a Cowboys for life, no agreement has been reached yet.
The Cowboys, like all NFL teams, are constantly working to balance their roster between veterans and rookie contracts. However the Cowboys pride themselves on being a strong drafting team and then retaining their key players. It is by far, the preferred method of roster building, as long as the front office doesn’t completely dismiss the idea that grabbing talent developed by other organizations can help.
Dallas, with lackluster draft classes in back-to-back years (2023 and 2024), is going to have to pivot soon to make up for the lack of stars during the two-year run. For now, though, they have decisions to make on several players who have reached the end of their rookie deals and are in line for major pay increases.
Parsons heads the list.
In March, Cowboys Wire fleshed out a contract extension that would work for both sides, and as they haven’t reached an agreement yet, it’s time to regurgitate those numbers and breakdowns.
Base salaries are generally paid during the Bonuses (Signing, Option, Restructure) are paid in a given year, but their cap hits are spread evenly across the deal, up to five seasons. So this $27.5 million signing bonus hits each season between 2025 and 2029 for $5.5 million per year.
The cash column is how much in base salary a player makes, plus any bonus money given in that year. The structure gives Parsons a big payment in March of most seasons, and then weekly salaries during the season.
This projected extension, five new years for $205 million, makes Parsons the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history and the first to surpass $200 million cumulative earnings in one deal. It is on top of the $24.007 million he is due on this year’s fifth-year option. The $41 million of new money, per-year average trumps what Myles Garrett received in his four-year extension signed with the Cleveland Browns earlier this offseason.
Per Over the Cap, Garrett’s extension had $123.596 million guaranteed of which $88.8 million is fully guaranteed at signing including a $21.54 million signing bonus. Parsons clears all of those with this contract.
The way this particular deal is structured, it proves $90 million to Parsons through three years no matter what. Should Parsons suffer a career-ending injury in 2025 or 2026, he will also see an additional $34.5 million paid across 2027 and 2028. Here are the major details of the guaranteed portion of the deal.
With this deal, Parsons essentially makes $500,000 per week (18 weeks) across the first two years of the deal. Those are augmented by the signing bonus and the first option bonus. He’ll make $2 million per week in Year 3, when there is no up-front bonus. He has Option Bonuses in 2028 and 2029 for big payments in March, and then makes $1 million per week those seasons.
The timing of those bonuses is structured that if the Cowboys want to use escape clauses, Parsons will hit the market when teams still have cap space to spend.
The first exit window, Parsons can be released in the first three days of the 2028 league year, and Dallas would save $6.5 million in cap space.
The second exit window, Parsons can be released in the first three days of the 2029 league year, and Dallas would save $4 million in space. He can be released before the final year of his deal, 2030, and the team would save $3.507 million of space.
The proposed deal also includes a Zack Martin Clause, where in the case that Parsons wants to call it an early career and walk away after his deal ends, the Cowboys can spread the $28 million in dead money between 2031 ($11 million) and 2032 ($17 million).
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys need to stop delaying inevitable, award Parsons this $200 million deal
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
