Cowboys Reportedly Offered Micah Parsons $150M+ in Contract Talks Before Packers Trade

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Don Van Natta Jr. reported a source with knowledge of the negotiations said this week that the Dallas Cowboys offered pass-rusher Micah Parsons more guaranteed money than he ended up getting with the Green Bay Packers following last week's blockbuster trade.

Fowler and Natta Jr. reported the source said the Cowboys offered Parsons "north of $150 million" in guarantees over a five-year contract extension.

Per ESPN's Todd Archer, Parsons received $136 million in guaranteed money, signing a four-year, $188 million deal overall.

While the Cowboys reportedly offered more total guaranteed money, the Packers deal gives Parsons more on a per-year basis.

According to Fowler and Van Natta, Parsons met with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in March and they discussed a potential contract extension, although differing sources have conflicting accounts over who asked for the meeting.

Parsons and Jones reportedly talked about a deal that would surpass the $40 million per year and $123.5 million in guaranteed money Myles Garrett got in his contract extension with the Cleveland Browns.

Jones reportedly "believed an agreement was done" when Parsons left the meeting, but Parsons reportedly called Jones' son, Stephen Jones, afterward with a source saying: "[Parsons] called Stephen and asked can we do this, can we change the numbers and up the guarantee. He started negotiating. He asked for several different elements and increases. This became a negotiation that Micah was in charge of."

Jerry Jones reportedly agreed to Parsons' terms and once again believed a deal was in place for a contract extension.

However, on Aug. 1, Parsons posted a statement on X in which he made a public trade request out of Dallas:

Parsons wrote that after he had conversations with Jones, he wanted to make his agent part of the negotiations, only for the Cowboys to cease communicating at that point.

That decision seemingly soured the relationship between Parsons and the Cowboys, leading to his shocking trade to Green Bay.

The Cowboys got two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark in the deal, while the Packers received one of the most dominant pass-rushers in the NFL.

Over his four seasons in the NFL, the 26-year-old Parsons is a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time First Team All-Pro, and he has recorded 52.5 sacks in 63 regular-season games.

Given his age and production, it comes as little surprise that Parsons was able to land a deal that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL in terms of average annual value.

The manner in which it happened was unexpected, though, and it very well could have shifted the balance of power in the NFC.