Dak Prescott knows how to negotiate a contract.
The Cowboys’ star, who penned a four-year $240 million deal last year, has given some contract advice to Micah Parsons as the 25-year-old engages in intense negotiations with owner Jerry Jones.
The Cowboys have one top priority this season, and that is to sign All-Pro linebacker Parsons to a contract extension.
Last year saw Dallas locked up wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, quarterback Dak Prescott, and defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, it’s now Parsons’ turn to commit his future to the Cowboys.
However, in a similar fashion to Prescott’s contract negotiations last year, Parson’s new deal is becoming a long, drawn-out process.
Speaking at the 35th anniversary Children’s Cancer Fund event in Dallas on Friday, Prescott was asked if he had any advice for Parsons as he goes through contract negotiations.
“Contract, I don’t have the full answer for it or I think all of mine would have been done a lot earlier than they were,” Prescott said.
“That’s for him just to stay positive and understand and make sure his knows what he wants and what he believes.”
Prescott is correct in comparing his contract negotiations with the Cowboys to the way Parson’s talks are playing out.
Dallas and Prescott certainly haven’t had the smoothest of extension signings.
After Prescott’s rookie contract expired, the Cowboys placed Prescott on the franchise tag for the 2020 season.
Prescott would play on the franchise tag for that year and eventually sign a four-year, $160 million deal at the end of that year.
However, once that deal was coming to an end, the Cowboys nearly let Prescott play out the final year of that contract.
Despite Prescott coming off an MVP-caliber season, he wouldn’t sign an extension with the Cowboys until the day of their first game of the 2024 season.
In the end, Prescott would sign a record-breaking deal that saw him become the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history, earning a salary of $60 million per year.
Now it’s Parsons’ turn for a new deal and a massive pay rise.
As of now, he is set to play the 2025 season on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal and will earn a base salary of $24 million.
Negotiations appeared to take a setback when Jones suggested he wanted to do a deal directly with Parsons and not his agent.
“I’m the one who has to sign the check and Micah is the one who has to agree to it,” Jones said.
“That’s the straightest way to get there, is the one who writes the check and the one who is agreeing to it talking.”
Parsons took to social media to defend his agent, David Mulugheta, posting, “I will not be doing any deal without @DavidMulugheta involved! Like anyone with good sense I hired experts for a reason.
“There is no one I trust more when it comes to negotiating contracts than David! There will be no backdoors in this contract negotiation.”
Ultimately, a deal between Parsons and the Cowboys is still likely, but in usual fashion with the Cowboys, we may have to wait a while.
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