Dallas Cowboys chief operating officer and co-owner Stephen Jones raised some eyebrows when he seemed to leave the door open regarding the club possibly trading star pass-rusher Micah Parsons this offseason via recent comments Jones made to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Shortly after Dallas’ 30-14 win against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday that improved the Cowboys to 6-8, Jones texted Calvin Watkins of The Dallas Morning News and insisted he “did not” say the club could make Parsons available ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
A November report shared that “the speculation around Parsons [had] already started, rooted in the idea that trading him would bring a treasure trove of draft picks to help” the Cowboys stock up on younger and less-expensive talent after the club signed both wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to lucrative extensions ahead of this season. Recently, Jones specifically said he felt teams “don’t do well in this league letting guys like Micah, usually, leave the house.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio subsequently mentioned that Jones’ wording was “just enough to make folks wonder whether the Cowboys might do the unusual” and take calls on Parsons, a 25-year-old who is only under contract through next season and could become the league’s highest-paid defensive player whenever he signs his next deal.
“I understand how that business side goes,” Parsons said after he tallied a pair of sacks in the win over Carolina, per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “Listen, no hard feelings in this business whether I’m here or anywhere else. Obviously, I’ve stated how I wanted to be here. But at the end of the day, I understand the business side, and I put in a lot of work. I play hard, too. Obviously, if sides can’t agree to those types of things, it happens like that. But I’m just happy to be here, and I’m just going to be playing hard while I’m here.”
As of Monday morning, the NFL’s website gave the Cowboys less than a one-percent chance to make the playoffs. Parsons and Co. will try to ignore outside noise and focus on what they can control as Dallas prepares to host the 8-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday night. On Monday, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Cowboys as four-point underdogs for that matchup.
“If I’m here for the next five, six years, I’m going to keep playing hard. Then, too, ain’t really nothing going to make a difference. Micah going to play hard,” Parsons added.
