First Things First - HIGHLIGHT: Could Micah Parsons miss regular season games?

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Watch clips on YouTube! Subscribe to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FIRST THINGS FIRST YOUTUBE CHANNEL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Jerry Jones expressed doubt that Micah Parsons will be ready to play Week 1 of the NFL season. Parsons recently requested to be traded. What do the guys make of this? Listen and find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're talking about Micah's hold in. He has to be traded last week and Jerry Jones said, you know what, no big deal, don't lose any sleep over it. So we assume that means the deal is going to get done and Mike is not going to miss any games. Not necessarily the case. Take a listen. Have you talked to him since the trade request? I have not, no. Has you negotiated start a contract talks with his agent? No, no. Any confidence that he will be on the field against Philadelphia?

Again, no. Absolutely not. that has to a big part of that is his decision. Danny, your reaction to Jerry Jones' recent comments. It's all just so unnecessary. I still firmly believe that Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys will get a deal done. I don't agree with the rhetoric that it's just like he's going to eke above T.J. Watts, 41 million a year. I think he wants to shatter it.

I think he wants to set a new standard. That's what Bruce said as well. You mean Jerry or? No. Yeah, I agree. Like, T.J. Watts, 30. Michael, Miles Garrett's 29. Micah Parsons is 26.

Like, I think he wants to set the standard for an edge rusher and then have that new standard stand for a couple of years, like Justin Jefferson did in the receiver market. So, 45 million a year. Does he want 50 million a year? Does he want $200 million guaranteed? Because the record for guaranteed money for defensive players, Miles Garrett, at $122 million. So I think he wants to shatter it. But Jerry Jones is just weird about this. Like, I looked in his eyes and I just shook his hand and I thought we had a deal done.

Then when he bought the team in 1989, it was for $140 million. It's not 1989 anymore. He's about to give $140 million to Micah Parsons. So I think Jerry's just stuck in the 80s. So I mean, but here's the other problem. Who knows what Micah wants? Because they won't talk to his agent. That's the part of this that I think brew is unprecedented.

I've never heard of a negotiation that clearly, it is clearly not the Cowboys stance of, your first contract's on over, not giving you a second contract. Because Jerry feels like we agreed to a second contract already. So the stance is not, there's nothing to negotiate about because we're not paying you. The stance is I negotiated without the agent

and now I won't talk to the agent. But I've never seen a scenario of a player of this caliber that wanted to stay with the team. The team has said they wanted him. And the owner's stance is we won't talk to the agent. And I think that is, I don't think it's hyperbole say that's without precedent. I've never seen something like that before. No, I think it's terrible. The word I used in the last hour was hogwash.

It's balder dad. Wow. This is balder. He's being disingenuous. That's the synonym for hogwash. So he's being disingenuous, all right? Like you said, Nick, if you even thought, oh, we got a handshake agreement to use his terminology, you still call the agent to work out the fine print.

He even mentioned, you know, the details we still had to work out when he bought the team. You worked that out with the agent. The fact that they have called him is ridiculous. And I think for other players on the team, now look, when the Cowboys offer them so much money, the players will take it whether they like Jerry or not. But I do think if I'm a player on this team, Greg, I'm kind of like a young player. They're not paying Micah Parsons? Yeah, yeah. Like, what is going to happen when I'm up or when it's my turn or even if I play fantastic?

What's going to happen? So I think there's a good chance they still get it done just because this has been Jerry's history. but I am starting there's a little bit of me now a small part that's starting to wonder is Jerry, like is Michael off asking for 47 a year? Remember I told you I saw the article in the Dallas Morning News, Calvin Watkins wrote

he wants four years 200 million, which is 50 a year. I was like, that was the first time I'd see that. Yeah, I was like, I don't know, is that a mistake? Is that a misprint or whatever? But maybe that's what he wants. And and, but to your point, Nick, I don't know how he would know if he hadn't talked to the agent, but. So it's really strange to me because one moment we hear Jerry telling the fans, you know, don't leave any sleepover.

The next moment we're hearing them say, you know, absolutely not. I'm not sure he's going to play week one. But when it comes down to contracts, you always have to talk to the agent unless you're not represented by representation. Unless you're Richard Sherman. Like Lamar. Exactly. You're doing your own. Like, exactly.

Lamar. When I think about this situation, and I think about all the things that Micah said and how he loves football and how he loves the cowboys and all this stuff. It's almost like Jerry and his team and exactly. But really, Jerry is trying to take advantage of Micah Parsons and all that he's already said and get him in a corner where it's like. It's the only reason. This is a bad analogy, but it's. It's a good analogy. It's bad because it invokes bad things.

But it's the same reason why if you're in trouble with the cops, you say, talk to my lawyer not to me. Correct. Because I, you guys are one party of a negotiation. I'm not equipped to be the other party to it. And so, and I'm not comparing Micah to a criminal, but it's the guy I pay to deal with people like you is who you should talk to. It's not a unique concept.

And I think it's totally fine. Jeannie talked about how sometimes after a long period of the agent and the player, I'm sorry, the agent and the team, negotiating, negotiating, they can't, you know, reach a point, then the coach or the GM might come in and be like, hey, can, our guys have been talking, it's not getting done, can we talk? That, to me, is totally different than starting there when you don't even know it's going to be a negotiation. Like that, because it does, yes, the player, the agent works for the player so the player can supersede him. But Micah didn't try to enter into negotiation with Jerry Jones. He thought he was meeting with him about team leadership and then Jerry brought up money. Well, that's the thing, too.

This should be the easiest type of contract to do. Superstar player at freemium position gets first contract extension with team that drafted you. These always go well. Like we, like, everyone remembers when Khalil Mack was traded because it was like, oh my God, the Raiders didn't pay Khalil Mack? Yes. What? And then the Bears traded multiple first round picks, most draft capital ever given up for a defensive player. And then they gave him the biggest contract ever for a defensive player.

It was like a industry shifting trade. I don't think anyone thinks that's going to happen again. And with the Raiders wasn't, didn't a new regime had come in? And that was one of the reasons they, like the, they literally thought it was possible that the Raiders did not have enough cash on hand to pay Khalil Matt. The old, the old you got to keep it in asking. This is not that. Greg, what do you think about the news that he like actually might miss game one?

I think we're kind of, I don't want to gloss over the importance of this because it's not just week one. It also opens up the entire NFL season. Do you think that is a leverage point for Micah? So it would be, I think it would be shocking for all involved if Micah, more so probably, probably. to the players because we all, and even us as media, we all know how much Micah just wants to play football and how much he loves

the game. However, I think again, I go back to the point that I just was making, I think Jerry has tried to take advantage of that. Yes. And use that against Michael Parsons because he's talked about this so much. Let's just try

to strike a deal with Micah and then he'll get his agent to sign off on it. And Micah's looking at it like no and if he's being advised like we can get more then now he has them in a bind to where they are going to have to come up with a little bit more so I just I think he play I think they get it done I don't I just can't see Micah with another

I can't see the Dallas Cowboys letting them go and trading them or that's not that's not gonna happen I think he gets it done before week one if he doesn't Mike is gonna get paid this is like Emmett Smith all over again the thing is Mike, we briefly touched on it early, he has no leverage. Again, he could fake an injury, and maybe he would.

The back just hasn't healed up, whatever. But he can't sit out the season because if he does, that contract just tolls and you're putting off free agency another year. And remember, even if he gets to, if I'm Mike, I want that $24 million that I obviously want more, but I don't want to give up $24 million. and then Jerry could, if this is really turns into a real grudge match, but Jerry still respects how great of a football player he is, he could franchise him.

A year from now. Yeah, you know, having played for 24 and then franchising. Just real quick, I think the point that you keep kind of trying to center us back to is almost, and so good job about you in that regard, getting lost in this, which is the tangible impact on the 2020. 25 Dallas Cowboys ability to get back to the postseason. Yeah. Like that's the part that like we all are,

because we're so used to Jerry's nonsense and the way the negotiations work. And I think also probably because we have kind of lowered our expectations for the Cowboys this year compared to last year and coming off all those 12 win seasons. We haven't focused on the fact that if you think you can win a championship, this is hurting your ability to do. So I asked, so there's two ways to look at it. we were talking about it before the show that I think Jerry's could look at it. One is the Bengals were right there on the precipice and they lost to the Patriots and week one really matters.

Like that will come back and bite you. And then when we were talking about, 1993, when Emmett holds out, which feels like a long time ago, but maybe if you're Jerry's age feels like a little yesterday. Yeah. Like, you know what? I've been here before. Emmett missed two games. He came back, I think, in week six, and we still won the Super Bowl.

So it's like... He missed two weeks, did it? Yeah, yeah. He missed two, but then why would I think he came back with... No, he only missed the first two weeks. No, I know, but then I don't know. Maybe I missed read it. I was literally I was on micro-feesh.

So I don't know. I also think some of the leverage here is embarrassing, Jerry. I think Micah's leverage is this is a national stage. We know we like... So you think he's got a lot of leverage? I do. I think there was a point... I think Michael has leverage as well.

Really? Chris Joel. I don't think the, I don't think the cheats were embarrassed by Chris Jones. No, Chris Jones seemed a little embarrassed. Yeah, he was there. I think against the Eagles, rivals, they're the champions, they've got the banner, you're

opening up the whole season, and Howie Rosamins this genius GM, and you can't get your main franchise guys. The flip side is, if Jerry's looking at it, like, here's the only way I can make that opening night game not just about the Eagles.

Is if the day before I signed Micah Parsons. Like with D. Interesting. Yeah, like Dack. Like C, yeah. Like their counterpoint. Yeah.

By the way, that still would be bad for the team. Like that would still be bad for their ability to win that game. Correct. But it wouldn't be bad for the Cowboys' marketability, which seems to be his number one priority.