FRISCO, Texas — As is the case annually, the Dallas Cowboys stole headlines on Super Bowl Sunday despite not being in the game itself. One year ago, there was speculation surrounding the futures of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb but, this time around, with Prescott and Lamb both secured on new contracts, it was Micah Parsons being used to generate news.
Parsons is currently on track to enter the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, a fully-guaranteed salary of $24 million in 2025, unless he and the Cowboys come to terms on an extension.
Both sides have been hellbent on making it known the plan is to remain married for the foreseeable future, but that didn't stop social media from attaching its engagement to speculation surrounding the possibility of the Cowboys trading their all-world pass rusher — a rumor designed to hit particularly hard in the wake of the Dallas Mavericks doing the unthinkable and trading Luka Doncic (the timing of said rumor surely being a coincidence).
It didn't take long for the team's all-world receiver to chime in on the discourse, and in fiery fashion.
"Y'all aren't tired of this?" Lamb asked, clearly frustrated by the speculation. "Every offseason, top of the charts. Let's just win ball games and that's with 11!"
Shaking his head in detestation, Lamb knows all too well about being the center of headlines, be it justified or unfounded, during his time negotiating a new contract in 2024. It is unfortunately Parsons' turn, but the front office has repeatedly made it clear there have been no talks whatsoever — at any level — about the possibility of trading Parsons.
"We see Micah as being a Cowboy for a long time," executive vice president of player personnel Stephen Jones reiterated in December. "We've said all along that our goal was to sign all three of those guys [Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons] and that's still our goal."
It's a sentiment echoed heavily over the past several months from owner and general manager Jerry Jones, who provided a hard "no" when asked during the season if the team considers a future without Parsons in uniform.
As for Parsons, the goal is to not simply retire a Cowboy, but to also work with the team to make sure his looming contract extension is one that is salary cap-friendly as well.
"It would just be nice to be surrounded by good players, you know what I mean?" he said. "Players that are going to help you win championships. To me, having $40 million and being chipped every play and slid two with three, four people — I don't think that sounds too fun. So, to me, it's about people that can keep making a difference and, obviously, we're going to get Sam [Williams] back; and we're going get some of [others] back.
"We'll see how it breaks down, but I want to keep as many guys as possible, however they're going to make the cap work."
Also given the fact Parsons has already promised he will not hold out of training camp absent a deal, none of this sounds like some sort of untenable situation that would force the Cowboys to suddenly begin entertaining a potential trade of a future Hall of Fame talent who hasn't even peaked yet.
So, to this point, they haven't.
