Micah Parsons Agent Accuses Cowboys Of Misrepresenting Meeting With Player To Start Contract Talks

It's been said before, and it remains true, that every failed NFL negotiation can be seen through the lens of one party, the other party, or the truth. And the truth is hard to find, which is the case with the Micah Parsons contract dealings with the Dallas Cowboys.

Jerry Jones stated his case about that negotiation last week when the trade of Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. That trade, by the way, puts the Packers in the crosshairs of high expectations for the 2025 season.

Parsons Either Didn't Or Didn't Negotiate

Well, on Tuesday the agent who represents Parsons, David Mulugheta, appeared on ESPN's First Take for a rare interview. 

And in that interview Mulugheta pulled back the curtain on the meeting that was at the root of the entire disagreement between the Parsons camp and the Cowboys for months and months: The April meeting in which the Cowboys say Parsons negotiated a contract with the team. 

"As far as Micah's concerned, he was out of the country. He got a call from Jerry's assistant and was asked to come in to meet about leadership," Mulugheta said. "So when he got back from his vacation, he gave them a call and told them he was ready to meet.

"At some point during that meeting that was represented to him was going to be about leadership, it turned into contract talks. And if you're a 25-year-old football player and your boss, who happens to be the most powerful person in the NFL, starts talking about contract, it's hard for you to end that conversation. 

"So they had a conversation. Micah nodded his head out of respect – obviously there's a power dynamic that's a little different there. One guy is the owner of the team and the GM, and the other one is Micah Parsons, a 25-year-old football player. I'm not sure if there was a miscommunication there by the time Micah walked out.

"But at no point did Micah believe he was negotiating a contract."

(Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images)

Parsons Lured Under False Pretenses?

The Cowboys and Jones have already explained the football reasons for making a trade. Now they should answer the accusation they brought Parsons to the club's facility for a meeting under false pretenses. 

It makes sense if they had told Parsons they wanted to begin contact talks, he would have said from the start he needed his agent present. It also makes sense that Parsons could have stopped Jones in his tracks when the conversation turned to a new contract, but he didn't.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, absolutely believe those talks were legitimate and binding. And it was actually multiple talks, not just the one at that meeting.

"When I did that, we offered him a contract to come play for the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said following the trade. "And it was a good one, OK? Now, it was more guaranteed than what has been reported that was there.

"But my point is without getting into detail, that was a very genuine negotiation. And we changed. I changed the amounts. And then he left, and then he called back and talked to Stephen [Jones] and Stephen negotiated amounts. We did those, we changed those amounts."

(Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Jerry Jones: Not Going To Start Over

So, eventually, the Cowboys believed the negotiation was over. But it wasn't.

"When the time came to say, let's go, then he said, ‘Well, let’s start the negotiation,' " Jerry Jones said.

Jones added that when players come in and say they're not comfortable doing negotiations without agents, the club respects that right. But that never happened. 

"The issue here was not to start with who we were talking with," Jones said. "The issue here was starting over after I had really dug deep, changed, dug deep more, dug more, handed it off to Stephen, he dug more," Jones said.

"So now are we through? We're through. And then to say, ‘Let’s start negotiations.' Pretty clever if you think about it on their part. They're pretty good."

Micah Parsons is fed up with the online bullies bashing Daniel Jones and Zach Wilson.  (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Parsons-Cowboys Talks Got Sideways

Jones added that the club was willing to discuss details with Mulugheta but that the Dallas numbers – reported and confirmed to be a $40.5 million per year average – "had been discussed."

"I get it and I think everyone does get it, too," Jones said. "They wanted to go where I stopped, and they wanted to go from there. Is that hard for anybody to see?

"That's where they wanted to start. That's where I stopped."

It's really impossible to know if the Cowboys lured Parsons into negotiations by telling him they wanted to discuss team leadership. It's also unclear whether it is true Parsons continued the contract talks on the phone even after the meeting was over and, if that's true, why he would do that.

What is clear is these people are dug in and each side is saying they're thrilled with the outcome. Which we're not sure is true, either.