Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones met with reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Florida on Tuesday and had some rather interesting things to say about the state of contract negotiations with star pass rusher Micah Parsons.
Jones said he has been negotiating an extension directly with Parsons, circumventing super agent, David Mulugheta. In doing so, Jones said that he and Parsons have agreed on the biggest aspects of the deal.
“Term, guarantees, money, all of those things we’ve had a meeting of the minds on.”
When asked by Clarence Hill of All City DLLS why Jones has yet to speak with Parsons' representation, Jones flat out said he didn't know Mulugheta by name and doesn't view the deal as an 'urgent' matter.
”I’m the one who has to write the check and Micah is the one who has to agree to it," Jones said, via Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “That’s the straightest way to get there. That’s the principle that’s involved here.
"The agent is not a factor here or something to worry about. And I don't know his name," Jones continued, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. My point is, I'm not trying to be demeaning in any way, but this isn't about an agent. The agent doesn't have one thing to do with what we're doing on the football field. Micah does. To the degree I'm involved, I do."
Earlier Tuesday, Hill reported that Dallas had offered to make Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, however, Parsons will not sign the deal until the Cowboys get final approval from Mulugheta. And per Hill, Dallas hasn't spoken with the agent since the NFL Scouting Combine.
Jones' comments went viral a short time later and caught the attention of Parsons, who came to the defense of his agent, writing on X that "There will be no backdoors in this contract negotiation."
The GBag Nation opened Tuesday's show by reacting to the back and forth between Jones and Parsons, and Bryan Broaddus believes it would be wise for the Cowboys to not dig themselves an even bigger hole than they are already in.
"I think the last thing I'd want to do in this negotiation would be to piss off David Mulugheta," said Broaddus. "That's the last thing I'd do. This guy will hold a grudge. And this guy will make the Cowboys pay. And I guarantee you when the deal's done and it's one of the bigger contracts ever in the history of the NFL, David Mulugheta will raise a glass of champagne and say, "Now they know my effing name.
"I think you need to be real careful with this one. He's shrewd. He's tough. He's going to get every dime he can out of the negotiations. And in this case, if you piss him off, he might take more blood from you. I would be really, really careful if I'm the Cowboys in how you handle him."