The Dallas Cowboys are making sure that Micah Parsons stays with the team for at least two more years by using an important contract provision. Parsons is the leader of the Cowboys’ defense and arguably the team’s top player, so it’s an easy decision to keep him on the team.
First-round rookie contracts all come with a fifth-year team option. On April 24, the Cowboys exercised Parsons’ fifth-year option for 2025, as reported by ESPN's Todd Archer.
“The Cowboys have officially chosen Micah Parsons’s fifth-year option for 2025 for $21.324 million, based on the position where he played the most in 2023, which was defensive end. Ultimately, the team hopes to sign him to a long-term deal,” Archer wrote on X.
As Archer explains, this is more of a precaution. Parsons’ second NFL contract will pay him even more than $21.3 million a season, and Dallas should be ready to spend the money.
But for now, the Cowboys can at least be sure that they have complete control over him for another two years. If things go wrong for any reason, they now have the ability to trade him next offseason.
Cowboys Quiet Offseason Due to Future Parsons Extension?
If Parsons plays on his fifth-year option in 2025, the $21.3 million salary will be more than the first four years of his deal combined. However, this first contract will be a fraction of what he’ll be paid in the years after.
Dallas has said they are preparing for that deal. On April 16, Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones discussed the process of extending Parsons as well as QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb.
“It doesn’t mean it happens overnight,” Jones said. “But when you’re wanting to sign players like Dak (Prescott) and Micah (Parsons) and CeeDee (Lamb), then you have to hold money back if you want to have a realistic chance of signing those guys.”
That might explain the quiet offseason, but there are also variables at hand. Namely, Dallas has an extensive amount of dead cap hit limiting their budget. For 2024, Spotrac estimates $17 million in dead cap space and a good chunk of that will carry into the 2025 budget.
CeeDee Lamb in Line for Massive Contract
As mentioned above, Parsons isn’t the only player set for a big extension. Lamb will be paid a considerable amount going forward, it’s really just a matter of when the extension happens.
Over the Cap estimates that Lamb was worth about $26 million during the 2023 season. Considering the elite WR market is being set around $30 million, that range is likely where Lamb will fall.
However, ESPN’s Todd Archer did make an interesting point that Lamb and Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson are both waiting on extensions. The two WRs both want the top salary or close to it. So both could be waiting for the other’s deal to drop.
“There’s a staring contest going on at the moment,” Archer wrote on X. “Neither one wants to go first unless they’re blown out of the water.”
Either way, both Lamb and Jefferson will be earning a lot of money soon.
