Tag: Micah Parsons

Could the Bucs steal the next Micah Parsons in the 1st round?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could land the next superstar pass rusher in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft

There are two kinds of teams in the NFL: The one that has Micah Parsons, and the other ones that don’t.

Every other team in the league would love to have the Dallas Cowboys’ star pass rusher on their side of things instead of having to game-plan how to slow him down, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could land the second coming of Parsons in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

One of the prospects routinely matched up with the Bucs in various mock drafts at their No. 26 overall pick is Penn State edge rusher Chop Robinson, and athletic and explosive defender with tons of potential.

In his scouting report for NFL.com, draft analyst Lance Zierlein chose Parsons for his NFL player comparison for Robinson:

Edge defender who offers the type of elite athleticism we’ve seen from players like Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett. Robinson might not be as fast as Parsons, but he’s close. He’s ultra-twitchy with the explosiveness to get on top of blockers and overwhelm them in an instant. However, he will need to level up his hand skills and attack angles to reach his potential against NFL tackles. Robinson’s electric athletic traits alone should give him a floor as a good NFL starter. If he crafts a rush approach and learns to string moves/counters together, he could reach his ceiling as a destructive force capable of forcing teams to game plan around him.

That’s obviously a lofty comparison for any rookie, especially one who isn’t expected to come off the board until the latter part of the first round. If NFL teams thought Robinson truly had the kind of upside that Parsons brought to Dallas, it’s hard to imagine he’d last that long on draft night.

If he does, the Bucs could land one of the biggest steals of the draft.

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Report: Micah Parsons’ absence from Cowboys workouts not contract-related

From @ToddBrock24f7: The 3x-Pro Bowler is said to be working out on his own for the second year in a row, not staying away from the team in a contract dispute.

Micah Parsons’s absence from the opening of the Cowboys’ offseason workouts comes with an important caveat that differentiates his lack of attendance from that of teammate CeeDee Lamb.

According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, a “person close to” Parsons has explained that the 24-year-old is simply training on his own rather than participate in the voluntary workouts that began at The Star on Monday.

That matches what Parsons did last offseason, too. Fans will recall he spent the early part of spring 2023 following a customized regimen at The Kollective in Austin, Tex. at the hands of acclaimed professional trainer Mo Wells. Strength and conditioning, speed and agility, position-specific drills, range-of-motion exercises, yoga, stretching, nutrition: Parsons and Wells worked on all of it in an intense effort to add bulk to the defender’s frame and fine-tune his physique in preparation for more snaps and more time rushing opposing passers.

Videos circulated online showing Parsons doing drills and racing fellow NFL stars like Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and newly-drafted Cowboys teammate Deuce Vaughn. Even after his return to the team for OTAs, Parsons incorporated boxing and other sports into his routines.

The result was a 64-tackle, 14-sack season that earned him his third Pro Bowl nod, second-team All-Pro honors, and a third-place finish for the Defensive Player of the Year award.

Parsons may not be training with the team, but suffice it to say he’s more than likely putting in the work required to get himself ready for the season, and probably pushing harder than if he were in Frisco with everyone else.

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His spending April away from the Cowboys facility is not the same as Lamb’s absence, which can be directly chalked up to the lack of a new contract extension.

Entering his fourth pro season, Parsons is eligible for a new deal. He’s scheduled to make $2.99 million in 2024 and would see that increase to $21.32 million if he ends up playing 2025 on the fifth-year option that the Cowboys have indicated they’ll pick up.

But none of that appears to be why Parsons isn’t at The Star this week.

The Lion is simply doing his own thing before re-joining the pack.

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Micah Parsons also skips first day of Cowboys’ offseason work

From @ToddBrock24f7: Parsons and teammate CeeDee Lamb find themselves part of a larger discussion in Dallas about big-money contracts this offseason.

CeeDee Lamb wasn’t the only Cowboys star who elected not to show up at The Star for the first day of the team’s offseason program.

Edge rusher Micah Parsons was also nowhere to be found on Monday as teammates kicked off Phase One of the 2024 voluntary work sessions.

The 24-year-old did not join the team last year until OTAs began in late May, choosing instead to train on his own in the Austin area. Parsons spent that offseason adding several pounds of bulk to his frame in anticipation of a (mostly) full-time switch from off-the-ball linebacker to edge rusher.

This time around, the perennial Defensive Player of the Year finalist finds himself one of three Cowboys superstars wondering about their long-term employment status with the club. While Parsons is just three years into his rookie contract and scheduled to earn $2.99 million in base salary, he is eligible for a new deal that would bind him to the Cowboys for the foreseeable future.

Nothing has happened in regard to that new contract, though, as Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott are presumably ahead of Parsons in that line.

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The Cowboys have indicated they will pick up the fifth year of Parsons’s contract, theoretically pinning his 2025 pay at $21.32 million. That decision is due by May 2, but it could be rendered a moot point if the team and their former first-round draft pick can negotiate new terms before then.

In the meantime, the Cowboys and new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer have already begun the preliminary classroom work on installing their revamped 2024 defense… without its most important player.

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Sports radio report suggests Micah Parsons ‘has worn thin’ with Dallas Cowboys

Dallas sports radio drops a rumor suggesting Micah Parsons may be falling out of favor with some within the Dallas Cowboys.

One of the best NFL players to come out of Penn State in recent years could be rubbing his team the wrong way. It is typically unwise to suggest anything heard on sports talk radio should be taken with anything more than a grain of salt, but it is impossible to ignore conversations revolving around [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag], the best player on the Dallas Cowboys‘ roster.

The suggestion that some within the Cowboys front office and organization wouldn’t blink an eye at the thought of no longer having Parsons on the roster comes from a comment by Shan Shariff of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. Shariff said he has heard from multiple sources that Parsons is not exactly in the good graces within the franchise at this moment in the offseason.

“I’ve heard from way too many people this offseason. I’m talking about at least four different people (have told me) that Micah has worn thin there,” Shariff said Friday. “I don’t know how much is true and how much it actually hurts (his reputation). I don’t know whether this is the behavior of a typical superstar. I don’t know how damaging it is. But all I do know is this – I’ve heard from way too many people that if Micah Parsons was out of there, there would be a decent amount of people inside the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco smiling or breathing a sigh of relief.”

The timing of these comments is peculiar because the Cowboys just picked up the fifth-year option on Parsons’ contract, and did so in a unique way by categorizing him as a defensive end instead of a linebacker. Would the franchise have been so quick to jump on that contract option if there was some uncertainty about his behavior? Given his talent and potential on the field, and with the lack of notable moves made by the franchise this offseason, perhaps locking in their best talent through 2025 was a priority.

Parsons was the no. 12 overall pick of the Cowboys in the 2021 NFL draft, and he has lived up to the billing on the field. Parsons was the unanimous winner of the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award and he has been a runner-up for the NFL’s defensive player of the year.

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What does Cowboys announcer think of Commanders’ Dan Quinn?

More praise for Quinn from Dallas as a coach and person.

With new Commanders head coach Dan Quinn leaving Dallas for Washington, what does Dallas think of Quinn?

Brad Sham has been calling Cowboys football games as their play-by-play announcer for 45 seasons. He was a guest on the “Al Galdi Podcast” on Friday.

Quinn the Dallas defensive coordinator for the previous three seasons, was named the Commanders head coach and promptly hired Joe Whitt Jr. as his defensive coordinator and Sharrif Floyd as assistant defensive line coach, both away from the Cowboys staff.

Then he signed four Cowboys on his Dallas teams when Tyler Biadasz (center), Dorance Armstrong (defensive end), Dante Fowler (defensive end) and Noah Igbinoghene (cornerback) each agreed to make the Commanders their new team.

Sham had high praise for Quinn not only as a coach but as a person.

“He’s a genuine people person,” Sham said. “He does have that kind of magnetic enthusiasm. And it is not just his players who love him. Most people around him enjoy being around him. He treats everyone with such respect that it is impossible not to return that.”

Seeing how Quinn had previous head coaching experience and improved the Cowboys defense, Sham was confident Quinn would soon be moving from Dallas.

“So, I think it was inevitable that he was going to get another opportunity as a head coach. I think it is a very positive move for the Commanders.”

Sham believes Quinn will be a better head coach the second time around.

“My guess is he is a better coach than the one who left Seattle several years ago,” Sham continued. “The experience in Atlanta made him a better coach. His last three years here (Dallas) made him a better coach. I think he is not just a defensive coach, though he is very much that. He is interested in the whole team, and it’s a very positive move for the Commanders.”

Though Whitt has not garnered much publicity, Sham believes in Whitt taking on this responsibility for the Commanders. “Joe Whitt is a guy who is kind of under the radar. He is quiet but a phenomenal football coach who has really great football intelligence.”

Sham told Galdi of how the Dallas defense was horrible in the 2020 season, and the hiring of Dan Quinn saw the Cowboys defense improve tremendously during Quinn’s three seasons as the Cowboys defensive coordinator.

“He will come in and look at the personnel following the free agency and the draft. He will then decide the best way for those players to play. He finds a way to maximize the players he has.”

Sham told of how Dallas defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence injured a foot during practice week of the second game of the 2021 season. Quinn went to Micah Parsons and asked him what he thought of moving around more on defense, being on the line in pass-rushing downs. And that is why we see how the Cowboys have used Parsons in multiple positions. It came about because Quinn saw an opportunity when one of his better linemen was injured.

Sham summed it up, saying about Quinn, “He’s pretty creative, inventive, and sees the big picture.”

 

Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones talks players following Dan Quinn to Commanders

The Cowboys’ EVP understands why players and coaches want to follow Dan Quinn.

When Dan Quinn left the Dallas Cowboys after three seasons as defensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Washington Commanders, it was clear that some would follow.

Whether it be Quinn’s fellow coaches or players, Quinn was popular in Dallas, with star linebacker Micah Parsons often discussing Quinn’s impact on him. Unfortunately for Washington, though, Parsons is not available.

Since Quinn was named head coach, Dallas secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. and assistant defensive line coach Sharrif Floyd followed him to the Commanders. Whitt is Washington’s new defensive coordinator, while Floyd is the assistant defensive line coach. Quinn tried to pry other assistants from Dallas, but the Cowboys refused to give Washington permission to interview them.

Free agency opened last week, and Quinn wasted no time looking to his former team to help his new team. On the first day of the legal tampering period, the Commanders quickly agreed to terms with center Tyler Biadasz and defensive end Dorance Armstrong. Then Washington agreed to terms with defensive end Dante Fowler Jr.

On Sunday, Washington signed cornerback Noah Igbinoghene. A former first-round pick of the Dolphins in the 2020 NFL draft, Igbinoghene spent last season in Dallas.

Last week, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones spoke about those coaches and players following Quinn to Washington.

“Yeah, I mean that’s part of being, if you choose to go to Washington, Philadelphia or New York, that’s what we’re going to have,” Jones said. “It’s nothing but respect off the field, but when it comes time to compete against each other, then that’s what’s going to happen. It’s no surprise when we were having our farewells to him, which no one thinks more of DQ than our organization and what he brought to the table here. And obviously, the players enjoyed playing for Dan, so it doesn’t surprise me a bit that they (want to follow him).”

Jones was speaking of how fans were upset with Dallas’ disappointing offseason thus far after his father, owner and GM Jerry Jones, said the Cowboys would be “all in” this offseason. The Cowboys have watched multiple key players depart while remaining mostly inactive in free agency.

Dallas Cowboys pick up fifth-year extension on Micah Parsons, with a twist

The Dallas Cowboys made a somewhat savvy move with Micah Parsons and his contract.

While some may be focusing on former Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and his upcoming free agency, the Dallas Cowboys made some news this week by picking up the extension for a fifth-year on former Penn State linebacker [autotag]Micah Parsons[/autotag]. Securing Parsons, easily one of the best defensive players in the NFL, was a bit of a no-brainer, but the Cowboys managed to do so in a unique way.

Officially speaking, Parsons has been a linebacker since being drafted in the first round by the Cowboys in 2021. But Parsons has been lining up more frequently on the defensive line for the Cowboys recently, and the fifth-year option will designate him as a defensive end according to a report from The Dallas Morning News.

Interestingly enough, this classification for Parsons’ position will lead to the Pro Bowl defensive star making less than he would have at the linebacker position in 2025. According to the Dallas Morning News report, Parsons will make a reported $21.32 million in 2025 as a defensive end instead of $24 million at the linebacker position.

This is clearly a move that benefits the Cowboys front office and allows a little more flexibility with the salary cap to build the roster moving forward.

As for the position classification, that choice is influenced by the on-field usage of a particular player. With Parsons being used more on the line than at the traditional linebacker spot, the fifth-year option and position designation by the Cowboys makes sense.

The Cowboys were able to tack on the fifth-year option for Parsons now that he has played three seasons (NFL teams may do that with first-round draft picks). That keeps Parsons in a Cowboys uniform for two more seasons on his five-year contract before Parsons will be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent in 2026.

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Here’s why Cowboys ‘cheap route’ with Micah Parsons’ 5th-year option may matter

It probably won’t be too big of a deal in the long run, but there is some impact to the Cowboys finally choosing to call Parsons a DE. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys have stirred up their fanbase over the last couple of weeks. Really it’s been a chaotic two months since the Cowboys were ran over and through by the Green Bay Packers. There’s not a lot to be confident in for the longterm with head coach Mike McCarthy and his entire staff coaching on one-year deals. The quarterback and wideout combo who both finished in the top-five for offensive player of the year, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, are both currently on the final year of their contracts as well.

Though those latter two might change at any minute, it certainly feels like Jerry Jones’ all-in decree was more about “do it or else“. And if that’s true, and long-term investments aren’t assured for anyone, some sense of calm appears to be hovering over the defense. Trevon Diggs already got his bag, but Micah Parsons is now eligible for extensions. That includes, as a former first-round pick, being eligible for the fifth-year option.

According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, Parsons is going to soon be slapped with the team option that will secure his services for 2024.

But there’s a bit of a twist.

Despite the fact Parsons plays the large majority of his snaps on the defensive line the last two seasons, Parsons has remained with the linebacker label. And it’s not by chance, the club chooses how to classify each player every season. Traditionally, off-ball linebackers get paid less than edge rushers.

But the Cowboys are using the NFL’s inability (or unwillingness) to reclassify defensive positions to mirror the reality of the roles to their advantage.

3-4 edge rushers are technically linebackers, and because the league’s top-paid edge players are predominantly 34 OLBs like TJ Wat and Nick Bosa, the franchise tag amount for LB is currently higher than it is for defensive ends.

The fifth-year option amounts for players with two or more Pro Bowl appearances is based on the current year tag amounts for the position where the player spends the most time.

The Cowboys were able to use the less expensive defensive end amount. If the league classified them as edge vs off-ball, which is functionally correct, they wouldn’t be able to get away with the lesser amount.

Instead of Parsons’ option costing Dallas $24 million as a linebacker, the option is “only” $21.3 million.

Teams have to put guaranteed money in escrow so while a player might not see it when the contract is forged, the team has to produce the cash and tuck it away out of their investment control.

And while it seems a foregone conclusion the two sides will reach a long-term agreement before the 2025 season actually starts, this is not an insignificant difference.

NFL agents love to use forced guarantees when negotiating the guaranteed money in the deals with their top stars. Star players will often use the two-year tag amounts as the basis for what they will accept as the guarantee money in a long-term deal.

After all, a team that truly wants to keep a player beyond their contract can do so by using the franchise tag one year, then a second year that costs them 120% of the prior year.

With the fifth-year option being guaranteed, that amount is assuredly going to be involved with any long-term negotiation between the Cowboys and Parsons agent.

 

Fifth-year option price set for Cowboys’ Micah Parsons

From @ToddBrock24f7: Exercising a 5th-year option on Parsons will cost the team $24M and lock him in for 2025 while they work toward a long-term extension.

Among the Cowboys players awaiting a big decision from the club this offseason is Micah Parsons.

The linebacker/edge rusher isn’t going anywhere (except in the most wildly radical of what-if hypotheticals), but the former first-round draft pick is now entering the fourth year of his rookie deal. The decision for the front office is whether to exercise a fifth-year option on him to lock him in through 2025.

They almost certainly will. And with the 2024 salary cap set, the Cowboys know how much a fifth year of paying for Parsons’s services will cost them.

Several factors go into the calculation. Parsons’s three original-ballot selections to the Pro Bowl translate to a salary equal to that of a franchise tender at the position in question. That means Parsons stands to make $24.007 million in 2025 once the Cowboys elect to exercise his option.

Talk of a Parsons extension is expected to be a hot topic this offseason, although the team does have several other big-money deals to work on, too. It’s widely thought he’ll end up being the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history with his next contract, and his price tag will only go higher the longer the Dallas front office waits as they take care of other business.

Wideout CeeDee Lamb saw his fifth-year option exercised last offseason. The two sides were unable to work out a longer extension prior to the 2023 campaign. Lamb had a record-setting season, and now a new deal that will likely reset the receiver market is a priority in Dallas.

Expect the Cowboys to similarly pick up Parsons’s option and continue to work toward a longer-term deal.

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The Cowboys, technically speaking, could also pick up the fifth-year option on quarterback Trey Lance, who was also a first-round pick- by the 49ers- in that same 2021 draft and has a rookie deal entering its fourth season. But while the third-stringer may remain an intriguing project for the team, he hasn’t done nearly enough to warrant a $22.408 million fifth-year salary.

Teams have until May 2 to exercise their fifth-year options on 2021 first-rounders.

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Did Micah Parsons criticize Commanders’ Dan Quinn?

Parsons wants a fresh start? Was he being critical of Dan Quinn after repeatedly praising him recently?

Dan Quinn spent the last three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys as their defensive coordinator, and now his best defensive player had something to say about it.

Micah Parsons appeared this week on the “Stephen A. Smith Show” and expressed his excitement to play for the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, Mike Zimmer.

“I just want to play winning football,” Parsons said. “I want everybody to be accountable. I want everybody locked in. What I hear is Zimmer’s one of them guys that’s gonna have everybody accountable… I just want a fresh start. I just want to change the culture, identity of the Dallas Cowboys and win a championship.”

Was Parsons implying Quinn did not keep everyone on the defense accountable? What did Parsons mean by “I just want a fresh start?” What was Quinn’s culture in Dallas that you “want to change the culture and identity of the Dallas Cowboys?” Here is the story in “The Landry Hat.”

This is all a surprise seeing that when Quinn was hired by the Commanders as their new head coach, Parsons praised Quinn, “They’re getting a real upstanding, outstanding guy, man,” Parsons said of Quinn. “I hope those players buy in and play extremely hard for him and understand that ain’t no one going to love them and care more about them than Dan Quinn.”

Parsons did not elaborate on what he meant by everyone being accountable and the culture change and identity change needed by the Cowboys. Whatever he did mean, the past is now behind Quinn as he has begun his second opportunity as an NFL head coach, this time in Washington.

Quinn replaces Ron Rivera, who did not have a winning record in his four seasons as Washington’s head coach. Commanders fans are starving and looking to Quinn to bring winning seasons. Washington has not accomplished a winning record since the 2015 and 2016 seasons when Jay Gruden was head coach and Kirk Cousins the quarterback.