How the Micah Parsons dispute embroiled Jerry Jones, Dez Bryant, Jay-Z, and Nicki Minaj

New York Times

a day ago

Entering the final year of his rookie deal, star pass rusher Micah Parsons is looking for a lucrative contract extension from the Dallas Cowboys. Months of back and forth reached a boiling point on Friday, when Parsons posted a letter requesting a trade and explaining why his frustrations ultimately led him to 'no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys.'
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And that, in turn, led to a weekend of responses, including a wild thread involving Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, entertainment mogul Jay-Z, 'Queen of Rap' Nicki Minaj, and former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant. As strange as it sounds, those characters were all joined together by the contract standoff between Parsons and the Cowboys.
About 24 hours after Parsons made his public trade request, Jones spoke to reporters at Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, Calif. One of the key issues in the standoff between the Cowboys and Parsons has been the reluctance of Jones, the team's general manager, to speak with Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta.
On Saturday, Jones was asked why he doesn't get involved with the agent, which led the owner to reflect on a different negotiation from a decade ago.
'When we have a problem within the team and a player, I don't ever find the agent. He's nowhere to be found,' Jones said. 'Jay-Z said that Dez (Bryant) would make all meetings. Jay-Z and I negotiated the contract. We spent hours negotiating the contract. (Jay-Z) said, 'Anybody in my organization is on time.' He said, 'My office used to be on the street corner, and I've always been early. So, they will be on time.' I said, 'Where do I sign?' But I'm going to call you. He finally quit taking my call.'
If that sounds familiar, it's because Jones told the story a little over three months ago at The Star in Frisco, Texas, days before the NFL Draft. At that time, Jones offered the anecdote unprompted, adding on to a question that was asked to Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones about the nature of negotiations.
Jones' story got lost in the shuffle of that hour-long press conference focused on the draft. On Saturday, though, his comments caught the attention of Bryant, who took to X to respond, warning Jones that it wasn't smart to mention his name and that Bryant 'kept quiet' about a lot of 'unfair' things.
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The next morning, Roc Nation Sports issued a statement, saying that 'the claim that (Jay-Z) or Roc Nation representatives did not return a call from Jerry Jones is not only a false statement, but it's also a comical one.'
Later Sunday, Minaj posted a gif of herself walking down a hallway with the caption, 'I hope Jerry Jones is having a great day.' An hour and a half later, Minaj quote-tweeted Bryant's post about Jones from the day before. 'How about we play a game?' Minaj wrote. 'Every time you do a 'Jerry Jones' or 'NFL' story time, I'll do a 'story time' of my own.'
Bryant quote-tweeted Minaj with the eyeball emoji and a gif, reading, 'I want to play a game.'
Minaj then quote-tweeted Bryant with another gif, referencing her contentious history with Jay-Z, Roc Nation and its CEO, Desiree Perez. For context, Minaj has been vocal about her issues with Roc Nation. On July 8, she posted the same gif of her walking down a hallway, while claiming that Jay-Z owes her up to $200 million. That claim centers on her equity in Tidal, Jay-Z's music streaming service, which was sold in 2021.
Bryant ultimately gathered that he was caught in a dispute between Minaj and Roc Nation that went beyond himself. He quote-tweeted Minaj's post with a video, saying, 'Look, Ms. Nicki. Leave me out of it. I don't want no problems. I'm a huge fan. I hope you're having a great day.'
It was too late for Bryant, though. Minaj responded with a post that began with, 'It's Mrs. Petty' and ended with 'See the problem with ppl who are always playing, is that they think everyone else is playing, too. I'd mind my business if I were you. Be blessed.' Bryant tried to disengage, but things escalated from there, with Minaj referencing a 2012 news story when Bryant was arrested for allegedly assaulting his mother; Bryant defending himself and referring to Minaj's husband's past guilty plea for attempted rape; Minaj offering Bryant $10 million to fight her husband; and Bryant saying he would 'stomp' her husband before reiterating his allegiance to Roc Nation.
There were a number of feuds crossing over — Bryant vs. Jones, Minaj vs. Roc Nation, and now Bryant vs. Minaj. And at the root of it all was the Cowboys' inability to sign a star pass rusher to a contract extension.