FRISCO, TX — The coming season, for Micah Parsons, is all about checking boxes as he goes along, and it began this offseason with ratcheting up the manner in which he leads others in the locker room. The three-time All-Pro pass rusher is locked in going into the regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, knowing what's on the line for many as Week 1 gets underway in Dallas.
Contract talks aside, Parsons is looking to prove he's the best in the league at his position, for competitive reasons, and it begins with trying to outperform reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.
"We kinda both know where we both are," said Parsons. "Garrett is one of my favorite rushers. Him and Maxx Crosby are two guys that are so freaking gifted. It's gonna be exciting to play against him.
" … He's one of the more relentless."
The two have a close relationship that extends off of the field as well, evidenced by Parsons' recent trip to China featuring texts from Garrett with recommendations for restaurants and the like. But, on Sunday in Cleveland, the two will be fighting tooth-and-nail to show who's better, both at their position and as a team.
"It's going to be exciting, I'm gonna say that," Parsons said. "… It's really not about the number [of sacks I get]. It's really about letting the world know, 'This dude is really the best.'"
The three-time Pro Bowler has finished each of his first three seasons with at least 13 sacks, notching 14 in 2023, and Mike Zimmer returning as defensive coordinator comes equipped with packages in the playbook that will make it very difficult to key in on where Parsons will be lined up on any given snap.
He and Zimmer have had an endless amount of dialogue since minicamp, and Parsons says teams will see him lined up in virtually every spot on defense except cornerback — even appearing to be a safety at times in certain sets — operating in every role on the defensive line and linebackers' corps as well.
Maybe he'll be the 2-tech, maybe the 0-tech, maybe the 5-tech or 6-tech; or maybe off ball, or maybe weakside, or strongside, so forth and so on.
Long story short: You might have an easier time locating Waldo drawn in invisible ink.
"I think we align," Parsons said of his relationship with Zimmer. "I think I just had to show Mike what I'm capable of and what I can do. Everything that he thought I would be, I probably have achieved that and more. He came up to me and said, 'You say you want to do this and you want to do that, if you just do this detailed stuff you can be the best ever.'
"… I think we have evolved in a good way."
It's a relationship that, combined with that of Mike McCarthy and everything Parsons has put into his career thus far — learning some hard lessons along the way as well — there's only one way Parsons wants to be viewed by the time this season, and his career, is all said-and-done.
He wants to be a champion and … well …
"It's the killer, the hitman, and the assassin," he said. "The killer is sloppy. He's probably going to get caught. He's not very good at what he does, but he's a killer, you know? He's raw in the streets.
"Then you got the hitman. The hitman might not get caught, but you know who did it. He's probably a little bit more clean. And the assassin, you don't even know he's there, you don't even know he's done it.
"Each time you really want to develop, and I think at this fourth year mark, for me, I think I'm ready to be an assassin."
The creed of an assassin, however, is to never stop until the job is done.
So when the Cowboys begin this campaign with their trip to Cleveland, it will mark the first in the 21-game plan of McCarthy, and needs to get Dallas off on the right foot to avoid a slow start to a pivotal season. Granted, the Browns will be without all-world running back Nick Chubb, but that doesn't mean they're devoid of talent offensively.
Quite the opposite, actually, considering they have five-time Pro Bowler and former Cowboys' wideout Amari Cooper and two other capable receivers, a more-than-capable backup running back unit and a mobile quarterback in Deshaun Watson who can extend plays.
Parsons and Zimmer's defense, particularly the defensive line and linebackers, will be tested early and often.
"It's gonna be very important [to get off to a fast start]," said Parsons. "Even without Nick [Chubb], they've got Jerome Ford, who's a really good back and, really, anyone who steps in really does a great job taking care of that back end. When Chubb went down, [Ford] didn't miss a step. And they've got a great receiving corps, drafting and trading for [Jerry] Jeudy and [having Elijah] Moore — they pose a great threat.
"We've really gotta anchor down and stop the run, and then get after the quarterback."
Anything less would be unacceptable to any assassin worth their salt.
