Micah Parsons contract: Cowboys players 'clearly frustrated' with Jerry Jones, 'distracted' ahead of season

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has not spoken with Micah Parsons since last week's public trade request and is not confident his best defensive player will play in the season opener next month. The back and forth between Jones and Parsons has reverberated throughout the team in a negative way, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, who wonders about the impact of this training camp distraction.

"Players are clearly frustrated," Fowler said Thursday on ESPN's Get Up. "Players are like, 'We're trying to win a Super Bowl man … why are we marketing (this)?' This is a slam dunk -- age, injury, production. There's no blemishes there. This is an easy decision. I think that's where players are grappling with this. This guy, you can argue is the very best at his position right now, outside of maybe Myles Garrett. 

"It's a distraction. They're going in on this two years in a row with CeeDee Lamb and Dak (Prescott) last year, now Micah Parsons."

Fowler said later he would be "highly shocked" if Parsons is traded and expects a deal to be done.

Parsons has not participated in practice since his trade request, but has paced the sidelines in various Cowboys gear and was even seen donning his familiar No. 11 jersey this week.

"I did notice him (Parsons), but there's 200 players out here and a lot of good ones," Jones said Tuesday. "All of that (Parsons being at practice and wearing his practice jersey), and I think the world of Micah. ... He's one of the brightest people I've ever been around. He's very, very talented. Now how we ultimately mail him in with our future is a challenge, and I'm built for it and he's built for it."

The Jones-Parsons timeline

Talks between Parsons and the Cowboys began in January, ultimately coming to a head with Friday's trade request. Jones contests he assumed a spring conversation with his pass rusher was a gentlemen's agreement of sorts, but Parsons is not on the same page.

He has said all contract negotiations must go through his agent, David Mulugheta, to which Jones has disagreed. Parsons said in early June that he was "hopeful" a contact extension would be finalized during camp and later, teammates Lamb and Prescott mentioned negotiations are part of the game and take time.

This time last year, Lamb was holding out of training camp before signing a four-year, $136 million extension with the Cowboys coming off a season in which he led the NFL in catches.

"Keep his head on right, stay positive around this whole thing ... we know it's going to get figured out," Lamb said last week when asked about Parsons' situation. "And when it does, we're going to act like none of this happened. I'm going to ask him for $100,000 and he can't tell me no because he has it."

Like Lamb last summer, Prescott went back and forth with the Cowboys in contract negotiations before becoming the highest-paid player in league history with a $240 million contract.

"I think Micah is doing a helluva job with being here," Prescott said this month. "He's a great teammate. Showing up, not just on the practice field but with the camaraderie, whether it be dinner. He wants to be out there practicing. Honestly, I'm glad he's not. He can't do that to himself. That's the business of it."

Prescott among those wanting resolution

Prescott said he reached out to Parsons after he requested a trade last week amid stalled talks on the long-term deal. The message, according to Prescott, was "F---, man."

Micah Parsons contract standoff: What Cowboys QB Dak Prescott told star LB amid his dispute with Jerry Jones

Cody Nagel

"He knows what that means," Prescott told Yahoo Sports. "It wasn't 'F--- you, Micah,' or 'F--- them.' It's more of a 'F--- -- this is frustrating for everybody involved.'"

Most insiders believe Parsons' long-winded explanation of the situation leading to his trade request was simply a negotiation tactic to get the ball rolling between Jones and his representation.