The Dallas Cowboys are benefiting from having the ability to build the team’s defense around Micah Parsons’ rookie deal, but the clock is ticking on the star pass rusher landing a massive raise. Parsons still has two seasons remaining on his four-year, $17 million contract, and Dallas will also have the opportunity to exercise the star’s fifth-year option for 2025.
The Cowboys pass rusher is eligible to sign a contract extension in 2024 and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell projects that Parsons will land a massive $32 million average annual salary. Parsons has quickly become a franchise cornerstone for Dallas, but the team is going to continue to find it challenging to construct a roster as the franchise inks some of their stars to extensions with Trevon Diggs and CeeDee Lamb also headed for big paydays.
“The player at the top of the edge rusher market is T.J. Watt, whose deal averages just over $28 million per season,” Barnwell wrote on May 30, 2023. “Nick Bosa, who pipped Parsons to that DPOY award last season, is likely to become the first defensive player to average $30 million per season on a new deal when he signs an extension this offseason. Parsons is eligible for his own extension next year, and barring catastrophic injury, it should come in somewhere around $32 million per season.”
Cowboys Rumors: Dallas Shot Down Talk of a Position Change for Micah Parsons
There has been some confusion over Parsons’ position as the star revealed that he bulked up this offseason to prepare to be a full-time pass rusher. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn shot down the notion that Parsons was changing positions noting that the defender will be a “pass-rushing linebacker” in 2023.
“Yeah 100%, so he is a pass-rushing linebacker, okay,” Quinn said with a smile during a May 13 media session. “So, if you ever need position changes come to me, okay, not through any of the guys and we can adjust that. I think what he was probably trying to say is, ‘I’m really emphasizing some pass rush into my offseason.'”
Regardless of position, Parsons has emerged as not only the Cowboys’ top defender, but one of the best NFL linebackers. Parsons has earned two Pro Bowl nominations and two All-Pro team honors during his first two NFL seasons. The star notched 65 tackles, 26 quarterback hits, 13.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles during 17 starts in 2022.
Cowboys Star Trevon Diggs Is Projected to Land a New 4-Year, $81 Million Contract
Diggs is going into the final season of his four-year, $6.3 million rookie deal and is slated to be a free agent in 2024. The lockdown corner is headed for a sizable raise from the $4.3 millions salary Diggs has in 2023. Pro Football Focus’ Brad Spielberger and Timo Riske project that Diggs will land a new four-year, $81 million contract with a $20.25 million average annual salary.
“A 2024 franchise tag at cornerback figures to be in the neighborhood of $20 million, meaning a second franchise tag would come in at around $24 million,” Spielberger and Riske detailed on May 24. “Diggs certainly could push to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, given his ball production. But with massive extensions looming for CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons and Dak Prescott, we think Dallas would perhaps balk at that asking price.”
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Cowboys Predicted to Give Massive $32 Million Salary to Star