Cowboys’ Micah Parsons has contract doubt: ‘If this is the end, this is the end’
The Dallas Cowboys have only been on-site at the Staybridge Suites River Ridge complex for the team’s annual training camp in Southern California for a little over 48 hours, but the fireworks and headlines have been aplenty.
As defensive end Micah Parsons awaits a contract extension with the team, he is in attendance at training camp despite having the grounds for a holdout from team activities. On the first day of practice on Tuesday, Parsons suited up, took the field and participated in individual drills with his defensive end teammates. After practice, he held court with the media alongside teammate Trevon Diggs to give his side of the comments shared by owner Jerry Jones on Monday.
“There’s not much movement,” Parsons said about his contract negotiations. “I want to be here, I’ve always stated that I want to be here. But they sign the checks, we’ll see if they want me at the end of the day.”
For the first time in the negotiations, Parsons expressed some doubt about a deal eventually getting done. Regardless, he will remain at camp and plans on continuing to honor his current rookie contract that expires after the season.
“If this is the end, this is the end,” he said. “The same way Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones take care of their family, I need to take care of my family. I got my own three kids, I have to take care of my own family at the end of the day.”
“I’m [at training camp] for myself and my teammates. This isn’t for Jerry, this isn’t for Stephen. This is for guys like [Trevon Diggs], to help guys like Donovan [Ezeiruaku] and Sam [Williams]. Guys who I know that can get better by being here.”
Parsons said that his agent, David Mulugheta, has reached out to the Cowboys about a deal. His calls haven’t been returned with an offer from the club.
“My agent’s been reaching out,” he said. “But at some point, another grown man has to be willing to reach out. Communication works both ways. That needs to happen too, it has to happen on their part.”
Contracts around the league have come down over the offseason at the defensive end spot, and Parsons hasn’t been a stranger to those deals getting done. He expressed his wishes for the Cowboys to act the same.
“There’s some teams with guys like Maxx [Crosby with the Raiders] where they knew [they] were coming up, and they took care of them,” he said. “I just say it must be nice...When you go around the league and see these other teams taking care of their guys, you wish you had that same type of energy.”
Despite the ongoing dispute, Parsons plans to not only stay at training camp, but also participate in team drills when his back tightness lightens up. For him, it would take more than a contract dispute to keep him away from the field.
“At the end of the day, I’m just staying in the moment,” Parsons said. “I don’t want to give up this time on the account of someone else. God blessed me to be here. I love representing the star. Nothing can hold me back from football. This is genuinely what I love to do, and if anyone questions that, then they probably haven’t been around me. Holding out completely? I don’t think so.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 5:54 PM.
