Micah Parsons contract dispute: NFL insider says pressure is on Jerry Jones to ‘pick up the phone’

With the NFL season quickly approaching, Micah Parsons’ relationship with the Dallas Cowboys remains a rocky one. Conversations about a new contract have stalled, and The Athletic’sDianna Russini said the pressure is growing around Jerry Jones.

Jones is not communicating with Parsons’ agent David Mulugheta of Athletes First. The star pass-rusher requested a trade earlier in training camp, but Jones and the Cowboys have not shown movement on either that front or getting a deal together.

Russini said while the dialogue is the situation is “status quo,” the lack of communication with Parsons’ agents is paramount. After all, it’s hard to get a contract together without talking.

“We say it’s status quo, but I think it’s important to just highlight what’s happening here,” Russini said on Scoop City. “Even if Micah wanted to open up this negotiation to remain a Dallas Cowboy, the Cowboys are not allowing that because they won’t talk to his agents. But you can’t negotiate a deal if you don’t talk.”

Jones previously said he held discussions with Parsons about a new contract – one which is expected to make him the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback – but Mulugheta was not present. He then said he thought the two came to a deal, though nothing was in writing.

That helped lead to the present standoff. Russini pondered the next steps, considering Jones isn’t engaging with Mulugheta.

“What’s next, right? Like, what happens here?” Russini said. “Somebody’s gonna have to give. The agent can’t do anything because the owner doesn’t want to talk to him. So it’s gonna be on Jerry if he wants to do the deal, to pick up the phone and say, ‘Alright, put that to bed. Let’s renegotiate.’ But I don’t know if that is gonna happen.”

If that happens, though, Jones would have to do an about-face, of sorts. It would require him to back down and talk with Parsons’ representation directly. Russini said she’s not sure that’ll happen, and that’s why this situation is different from past contracts.

“I feel like in the past, with other deals, I always had belief that Jerry would just put aside the ego and open up the wallet and get the player that he needs on the field,” Russini said. “This is gonna be a lot of backtracking by him. I don’t know if he’s gonna be willing to do that.”

Russini’s evaluation of Micah Parsons’ situation comes after ESPN’s Adam Schefter said things are not in a good place. He said the sense he gets is Parsons and the Cowboys are trending “towards divorce.”