OXNARD, Calif. — Micah Parsons is the first Cowboys player in recent memory to ever make a public trade request. Things said in private during negotiations? That’s a different story, according to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“That’s negotiation,” Jones said after Saturday’s practice and after chants in support of Parsons were heard loudly. “I’ve heard that so many times in my 30 years in the NFL from not just players, but agents, of course. We all understand contracts. We’re under contract. That’s what we’re doing.”
Related:Micah Parsons requests trade, drawing line in the sand with Dallas Cowboys
What Jones will not do is oblige Parsons’ request. Jones, when asked multiple times on Saturday, said he hasn’t and will not consider trading Parsons.
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“I don’t really place that with any real seriousness,” Jones said. “Micah’s got a bad back.”
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Parsons has been in Oxnard, California with the team, but he hasn’t practiced. He spoke publicly once since he’s been here and said that he wouldn’t practice until his tweaked back had healed.
Parsons wrote a lengthy post on Friday, citing a timeline of the negotiation and multiple reasons why he wanted to leave the Cowboys. The big sticking point has been the lack of conversations between Jerry and Stephen Jones and Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta of Athletes First.
“I no longer want to be held to close door negotiations without my agent present. I no longer want shots taken at me for getting injured while laying it on the line for the organization, our fans and my teammates. I no longer want narratives created and spread to the media about me. I had purposely stayed quiet in hopes of getting something done. But since there is confusion out there let me clear some things up.”
Parsons and Jones met in March. Jones has said previously that he and Parsons went over “every detail” of a contract. He believed an agreement was had. Parsons, however, would not do a deal without his agent’s approval.
When asked when he would start negotiating with Mulugheta, Jones cited that conversation.
“I started negotiations in March. I’ve negotiated double handfuls of contracts just like I did in March,” Jones said.
Jones was later asked if the contract Jones offered in March is still on the table.
“Micah took it off,” Jones said. “He took it off.”
Jones later continued: “The key is that we’ve got an agreement. Let’s really do understand that: we’ve got an agreement. Now, if we’re going to adjust that agreement, then he’s a must and I’m a must — not the organization. I’m a must in this case.
“It’s very important that if you’re going to change the contract that we have right now, which this would, then that I agree to what we’ve changed. That’s why it was so good when we sat down together and spent a lot of time going back and forth and adjusting and we had that exercise together.”
Jones said that there weren’t negotiations with Parsons last season. Parsons said in his letter that he wanted to start those a season ago, but the Cowboys weren’t willing.
“It could very well be,” Jones said when asked if Parsons told him he wanted to negotiate. “If it’s what he wants, that could cover a lot of ground.”
Jones also expressed that his history would suggest that the Cowboys and players come to deals despite tough negotiations.
“It seems like we forget less than a year I paid the highest that’s been paid in the NFL to Dak [Prescott], and I paid a big price for [CeeDee] Lamb. Anybody that says I’m not interested in financially rewarding my players hasn’t been looking at the tea leaves. There’s always, always negotiation, and the negotiation is to put the best team on the field.”
In terms of putting Parsons on some other team’s field, Jones said he won’t do it.
“I enjoy these players. I enjoy Micah, but as always, in any relationship, there are different moods at different times of your relationship. That’s what it is. Don’t lose any sleep over it. That’s one thing I would say to our fans: don’t lose any sleep over it.”
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