The Dallas Cowboys traded linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers ahead of the 2025 NFL season, and new insight has emerged regarding owner Jerry Jones’ approach to the negotiation process.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Don Van Natta Jr., Jones believed that he and Parsons had already agreed upon a deal, and that the onus was on the 26-year-old to make things official.
“To this day, Parsons' agency has never seen the final details or structure of the deal that Jones said he cut with Parsons in April, per a source close to Parsons. Jones and Mulugheta would never truly negotiate at any point,” Fowler and Natta Jr. wrote. “Dallas would simply say the deal is done; Parsons can have it if he wants it. (Mulugheta declined to comment for this story).”
“I'm the one who has to sign the check and Micah is the one who has to agree to it,” Jones said on April 1 at the NFL owners' spring meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. “That's the straightest way to get there, is the one who writes the check and the one who is agreeing to it talking.”
The report notes that Jones had initially dealt with Parsons personally and was not concerned with the Harrisburg native’s agent, David Mulugheta.
““The Jones source says he had nothing against Mulugheta, though Jones insisted to reporters in Palm Beach that he didn't know Mulugheta's name, adding, “The agent is not a factor here, or something to worry about,”” Fowler and Natta Jr. wrote. ““At that point, Jones was dug in because “Micah looked him in his eyes and said we have a deal.” The source relayed a feeling from Jones of, “Oh so that's how they are going to do it. Micah is going to negotiate with us, we're going to go up, we're going to have an agreement, and then the agent says that's the floor and we're going to go from there?””
Parsons’ price ultimately rose when he and Mulugheta saw others, such as the Las Vegas Raiders' Maxx Crosby, receive massive deals.
The Cowboys traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers last week for three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round draft picks. Green Bay agreed with the linebacker on a four-year, $188 million contract shortly thereafter.
The Cowboys will host Parsons and the Packers in Week 4
