While the Dallas Cowboys' season hasn't exactly gone as planned, with the division all but gone and their chances of making the playoffs not too much better, one person who hasn't taken much, if any, of a knock for the performances has been Micah Parsons, the former Defensive Rookie of the Year who has made it to the Pro Bowl in all three of his NFL seasons so far.
That's right, while his team is struggling with consistency, under backup quarterback Cooper Rush, Parsons has remained as dominant as ever, recording 6.5 sacks, 28 pressures, and nine QB hits in only eight games of action while providing major pressure for Mike McCarthy's defense.
With the window for a contract extension opening up this summer, is Parsons looking to become the highest-paid player in the NFL? Maybe yes, maybe no, as it really comes down to what makes his Cowboys the best possible team long-term.
“I don't know. It really just depends on the circumstances of who are we trying to get, who's trying to return. I look at it from a business side also, you know? If we're going to be aggressive and bringing in players to play next to me because right now, you look at it, I don't know who I'm playing [with] besides Marshawn [Kneeland] and Sam [Williams] and Mazi [Smith]. Who's going to be on our ring with Chauncey [Golston] and Osa [Odighizuwa] and D-Law [potentially] not being here,” Parsons told reporters via ESPN.
“So, to me it's all about the foundation of the team, like, ‘How can I create the best foundation and play with the guys who have helped me create a lot of success?' Those guys helped me get to where I am, where I can become the highest-paid player. So, I would like for as many of us to be here as possible so we can continue having success, winning seasons.”
Interesting. So Parsons might be willing to take a pay cut from Dallas if it means loading the roster up with some good players around him? Well, Parsons had some additional comments to say on that, too, even if his agent may not like it.
Micah Parsons doesn't want to waste his prime on a bad Cowboys team
So, what kind of pay cut is Parsons talking about? Well, in his own words, there isn't a massive difference between $30 and $40 million if you are miserable playing on a bad team.
“I feel like you see a lot of times ‘highest-paid,' then we say they don't have weapons, or they don't have this. So, I would rather just be in the best situation, you know? At that point, I don't think there's a big difference between $30 million and $40 million in my eyes, you know? And that's just me talking,” Parsons said.
“My agent might be mad at me I even said that. But you know, for me, I mean I've already been blessed enough, bro, where, like, I can't complain too much in life.”
Wow, would Parsons actually leave $30-40 million on the table to build a better Cowboys team? And who is to say the team would even use that money effectively, as the team is clearly worse than last year despite having the same core players on the roster? Needless to say, such a move would be a major risk for Parsons: only time will tell if his mindset is the “right” one.