It’s early August, and we’ve had exactly one American pro football exhibition game played as of this writing. And I’m sorry, you couldn’t pay me enough to put what spare change I have on the Los Angeles Chargers emerging as Super Bowl LX titlists. Besides, even at the current FanDuel odds the payout wouldn’t be enough to even cover my driver’s license renewal.
So none of us should be surprised that the headlines at the juncture involve the Dallas Cowboys, a team that in this millennium have won exactly as many Super Bowl rings as those Bolts–zero. But considering they spend the early part of training camp in Southern California (ostensibly to beat the Texas heat) they are dominating the sports sections both locally and nationally. Predictably.
Once again, octogenerian owner Jerry Jones is waging war with a coveted player’s desire to be paid what he and his representatives believe he’s worth, as CLUTCH POINTS’ Jackson Stone recapped yesterday:
Last week, Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons shook up the NFL world by formally announcing his trade request from the team on social media. The move sent fans from all 31 other fanbases scrambling to put together their best trade packages for the disgruntled Cowboys star, who hasn’t been signed to the contract extension he’s been seeking this summer.
Recently, ESPN NFL insider Todd Archer stopped by the Dan Patrick Show to break down why this move is so unprecedented.
“Tell me the last time a Cowboys star player has not signed,” said Archer. “That Jerry (Jones) has not kept. It took Emmitt missing two games and the Cowboys going 0 – 2 in ‘93 for that deal to get done. We know that Dak deals had taken time here the last couple negotiations that Dak has had. We saw CeeDee Lamb negotiations take through almost the end of August the last year. But again, none of those guys said, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’ None of those guys claimed and talked about ‘repeated shots’ that they feel the organization is taking against him. That’s what makes this different.”
And as if on cue, Jones gave his “exclusive’ side of the story to USA TODAY’s Jarrett Bell:
Jerry Jones is clearly in no hurry. Two days before Parsons’ bombshell, though, Jones seemed to have already drawn a line in the sand during an interview with USA TODAY Sports that might have indicated where these negotiations with the defensive centerpiece could be headed. He mentioned that Dak Prescott, who last year become the NFL’s first $60 million-per-year man, played out his rookie contract and was twice franchise-tagged before landing his four-year, $240 million megadeal. And he referenced the two franchise tags the team used on since-departed defensive end Demarcus Lawrence before he signed a five-year, $105 million deal in 2019. Both of those players, they played their contract out,” Jones said. “To me, you’re going through a process where a player wants to see if they can get an extended contract. And if they don’t they play their contract out.”
To be fair, most of the experienced NFL media analysts are doing their best to pooh-pooh all of this. On this morning’s ATHLETIC FOOTBALL show podcast resident czar Robert Mays all but held his nose at what he perceived as yet another empty tantum, essentially throwing cold water on Archer’s theory. Small wonder; he’s a competitor. But what was also dismissed is the fact that not only is Jones playing out his typical gameplan to own August he’s also now competing with a division arch-rival for obstinant stubborness.
Per THE SPORTING NEWS’ Billy Heyen yesterday:
Terry McLaurin has asked out. The Washington Commanders’ star receiver is entering the final season of a three-year, $68 million contract, and he wants an extension that will pay him like the Steelers are paying DK Metcalf (four years, $132 million). The Commanders don’t seem in a hurry to pay that for a 30-year old receiver, and so McLaurin has requested a trade.
Right now, the two sides appear to be in a holding pattern, but it’s not an even negotiation, writes The Athletic’s Nicki Jhabvala. She says the Commanders are in the power position. “The Commanders also know they have much more leverage than McLaurin in his contract dispute; he’ll be 30 in September, which means he’ll be 31 in the first season of an extension,” Jhabvala writes. “It also means that holding out regular-season games could be career-ending. So, a deal will get done. There’s still time.”
I guess even Mays’ comrades in arms are in lockstep with his beliefs. Killjoys.
Don’t they realize that it’s in the DNA and the vintage of owners like Jones to get the last word. Especially when Parsons happens to have one of the most popular podcasts of any active player in any sport and gets in more than a few of his own–without the help of old school reporters.
And the Commanders’ new ownership has already beaten Jones in the months beyond August–especially January, which they played three games into before succumbing to yet another NFC East rival, the world champion Iggles, in the NFC championship game. Another game Dallas has not yet played in in this millennium.
It should be kept in mind that Jones come from the same generation as a certain “local” Washington football fan who has been clamoring for a return to the team’s original nickname. The one that they had when they last won a Super Bowl of their own–four years before Dallas did.
He grew up in an era where playing Cowboys and Indians was considered a legitimate way to spend a playdate. So did that “fan”. Even when I was a kid that had basically become passe, especially in a neighborhood where the Indian population was Asian. And remember, I’m hardly a card-carrying member of any youth movement.
So you may be more inclined to take the dismissive attitude of those from THE ATHLETIC as to whether or not this is yet another desperate cry for attention for folks not used to winning any real wars in crucial times of year. I’m somewhere in the middle, literally and figuratively.
I do know I can’t wait for when actual games begin later this week, if for no other reason it will give all of us something more productive to focus on. Perhaps with the exception of those immaure kids who still like playing Cowboys and Indians.
Courage…