Micah Parsons Says Cowboys Gave Him an Ultimatum Before Trade to Packers

Before the Cowboys shockingly traded Micah Parsons to the Packers on Thursday, Parsons reportedly went back to Dallas to try and get an extension done.

The 26-year-old defensive end had been trying to hammer out a deal with the Cowboys throughout the offseason, but requested a trade at the start of August when no progress had been made on a new contract and Dallas refused to negotiate with Parsons's agent David Mulugheta. In the statement where he announced his trade request, Parsons specifically said, "I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys."

Despite expressing this desire, Parsons did try to negotiate with the Cowboys on an extension one last time. Following the blockbuster trade, Parsons told NFL Network reporter Jane Slater that when trade interest was leaked this week, he went back to Dallas to discuss an extension "with empathy."

Per Parsons, the Cowboys' response was, “Play on the fifth year [option] or leave."

Rather than take that opportunity to get a deal done with a game-changing defensive player in Parsons instead of going through with a trade, Dallas brushed off the chance. Waiting this long to address Parsons's contract situation was already a poor move on the Cowboys' end if they wanted to retain him, but suggesting he play on the fifth-year of his rookie contract is absurd. A player of Parsons's caliber is almost always re-signed well before this point.

With Dallas unwilling to negotiate, Parsons took the latter option and was sent to Green Bay in exchange for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. He joined a Packers team that had no problem immediately doing what the Cowboys wouldn't—agreeing with him on a four-year, $188 million extension with $136 million guaranteed that shatters the mark for highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL.