Micah Parsons' Agent Explains Jerry Jones, Cowboys Contract Talks Before Packers Trade

After Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones spent months giving his side of the Micah Parsons' contract talks, the other key figure in those talks has shared his perspective on those discussions.

Appearing on Tuesday's episode of First Take (starts at 1:25 mark), Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta, said they were initially looking to get a deal done after the 2023 season, but the Cowboys wanted to take care of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb first.

Mulugheta explained after last season that the Cowboys said they would "let us know when they were ready" to engage in contract talks, but "for some reason that never happened with me."

"I think the most important thing is Micah wanted to be a Cowboy," Mulugheta added. "He grew up cheering for the Cowboys, wore the blue and white at Penn State, wore it in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys. He wanted to be a Cowboy and we did everything we could for him to remain a Cowboy."

When asked about Jones' comments that he offered Parsons a deal that would have made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, Mulugheta said the deal at the time for $40.5 million per season would have been the most ever for a non-quarterback.

However, Mulugheta noted the "devil's in the details" and pointed out the structure of that offer in terms of cash flow would not have made Parsons the highest-paid player outside of the quarterback position.

Jones said the Cowboys had an agreement with Parsons on total years and guaranteed money, but the hold up came when Parsons wanted to include Mulugheta in the discussions.

The Cowboys were under the assumption that they didn't need to bring in the agent because there was a handshake agreement in place, so they just had to go over soe of the finer points to finalize the deal.

Mulugheta told Stephen A. Smith that it was not Parsons' perspective that there was ever an agreement in place because the 26-year-old "at no point" believed he was negotiating a deal with the Cowboys when he was having in-person talks with Jones.

This is consistent with what Parsons wrote when he originally requested a trade from the Cowboys on Aug. 1. His statement noted that Jones used a meeting about leadership to discuss his contract, and he "engaged in a back and forth in regards to what I wanted" from a new deal, but "at no point" did he consider it a formal negotiation.

On Tuesday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Don Van Natta Jr. reported the Cowboys' offer to Parsons contained "north of $150 million" in guarantees on a five-year extension.

That would have been the most guaranteed money for a non-quarterback, surpassing Myles Garrett's $123.6 million from the Cleveland Browns, but it's impossible to say if it would have been a good deal for Parsons without any indication of how the contract was structured.

For example, Terry McLaurin's extension with the Washington Commanders was initially reported as being for $96 million over three years. When the full details of the contract came out, it had a base value of $87 million over three years with incentives that could push it up to $96 million.

Jones certainly presented the deal he offered Parsons as being a historic one, but there were clearly some holdups from Parsons' camp about it. He wound up coming out of the situation fine by signing a four-year, $186 million deal ($136 million guaranteed) with the Green Bay Packers after being traded by the Cowboys.

The $46.5 million average annual salary and $136 million in guaranteed money makes Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. He can also become a free agent again after his age-30 season, giving him the chance to potentially receive another lucrative deal while still in his prime.