The Dallas Cowboys had a rather disappointing 2024-25 season. They lost starting quarterback Dak Prescott to hamstring surgery in November and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb failed to live up to the $136 million deal he signed last offseason. All of it resulted in team owner Jerry Jones relieving head coach Mike McCarthy of his duties once his contract ended.
Now, with a seemingly fresh start to start this offseason — including hiring offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to replace McCarthy — Jones has an opportunity to kick-start the franchise back into a competitive position.
At least, that’s how one Cowboys player feels. Star pass rusher Micah Parsons is explicitly and publicly appealing to Jones to be “aggressive” this offseason in what he described as a “call to action.”
“[The] talent is here, but we’ve just got to finish; and go be aggressive the same way they did, you know?” Parsons told a Make-a-Wish audience on Thursday, referencing the way NFC East division rivals like the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders re-tooled their rosters quickly and found rapid success in 2024.
“I don’t wanna sit back and just watch other people build and build and build and [we] stay the same, so we definitely need some call to action,” Parsons continued.
“I want to see us be aggressive, and I wanna see us get players that’s gonna help us — that’s gonna come in and make an impact,” Parsons detailed in his ideal approach to free agency. “And I wanna see us bring back our own players that are just as important, and let’s see what we can do there.”
He should be careful what he wishes for. His own contract is due for an extension, and despite that kind of investment from Jones affording Dallas roughly $18 million in salary cap space over the next few seasons, fans know their team’s owner thinks far more petty than financially savvy.
Jones could very well go look to bring in better supporting pieces for Prescott and Lamb to work with on offense as well as some new defensive chips, but that all will come at an inevitable cost. With star pass rusher Myles Garrett asking the Cleveland Browns to trade him, whatever haul they get in return (if they actually flip him) could factor into Jones’ decision-making — and that’s not good news for Parsons.
Cowboys fans know all too well how Jones responds to being pestered about star players’ contracts. In 2019, he purposefully extended linebacker Jaylon Smith in spite of all the focus being on Prescott, wide receiver Amari Cooper and running back Ezekiel Elliott at the time.
“Y’all have been badgering my ass to get a contract done for the last three weeks. This is a contract story,” Jones said back then. What’s stopping him from doing something just as petty in response to Parson’s “call to action?”
If Jones finds a trade partner for his 2021 first-round selection and gets a haul in return, Parsons can’t say Dallas wasn’t “aggressive” in trying to build a newly competitive squad. This could turn into an ugly monkey’s paw situation for the two-time All-Pro despite his best intentions.
