CeeDee Lamb offers Micah Parsons advice on how to negotiate contracts with the Cowboys

USA Today

4 days ago

The Dallas Cowboys' front office folks are no strangers to contract disputes. Year after year, the organization seems to be fighting over extension dollars with their best players, and this year it's pass rusher Micah Parsons taking center stage.
When there's contentious negotiations, sometimes the drama plays out publicly, which doesn't seem to bother Parsons, who has a large social platform to speak his mind. However, one player who went through the same ordeal believes it's best to not work these disputes out through the media when it pertains to Jerry Jones.
Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who had his own issues getting a lucrative extension with the team, gave his opinion on the best way for Parsons to get his deal.
Lamb's advice comes after Parsons spoke how Cowboys "ownership likes to drag it out, make it more complicated than it has to be" on a podcast last week.
Parsons doubled down on those sentiments on the first day in training camp, expressing frustration with how Jerry and Stephen Jones spoke about the negotiations, and their lack of movement getting a deal done. Standing with cornerback Trevon Diggs, who drew the ire of the Cowboys' top brass, and talking contracts also probably didn't help smooth things over with the Joneses.
Lamb doesn't believe talking so openly about the extension is the right way to get a deal, and he speaks from experience. Last summer, Lamb was in the same situation, fighting with the Cowboys to get his new contract, something that took until near the end of training camp to complete. And because the holdout lasted so long, Lamb felt like it affected his performance, especially early in the season. He doesn't want that to be the case for Parsons.
No one knows how this will play out, but Lamb's point rings true. There aren't many better at the manipulation game than Jerry Jones, and he works the media to his advantage extremely well. It will be tough for Parsons to get his extension by talking so boldly through the media. Parsons can't force the deal by continuing to question why the Cowboys operate like they do, it can only come when the Joneses are ready to get on with the negotiations.
That also doesn't make Parsons wrong. It seems like every logical football person questions why the Cowboys operate this way when it comes to deals with their best players. They make it a long, arduous process that doesn't need to be so complicated, something Parsons was correct in pointing out.
However, being right and getting what you want are two very different things, especially when it comes to stubborn people like the Joneses. Parsons has shown to be a very smart, media savvy businessman, but he doesn't own the team or write the checks. As Ray Liotta said in the 1997 film Cop Land, "being right isn't a bulletproof vest," and it won't make the Joneses move any faster.
In the end, it's likely a new deal gets done before the regular season begins and Parsons becomes the highest paid defensive player in the NFL. All this soap opera or nothing.
But Lamb knows better than most that testing Jerry Jones through the media isn't fun and doesn't usually work. Parsons isn't like most players, but Jones isn't like most general managers either.
A deal can't come soon enough.
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