'BACK-STABBERS': Dallas Cowboys Accused of Nasty Micah Parsons Leaks - But Why?

'BACK-STABBERS': Dallas Cowboys Accused of Anti-Micah Parsons Leaks - But Why? Ask Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Dez Bryant ... And More Self-Damaging Conspiracy Theories

"They smile in your face ... The back-stabbers. ...'' - The O'Jays.

FRISCO - Micah Parsons is arguably the best player on the Dallas Cowboys roster, the young perennial Defensive Player of the Year finalist meritorious in the eyes of most of a coming contract extension that could make him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.

So why are people here inside The Star saying nasty things about him? The ugly theory: The Cowboys are conspiring to sour Parsons' reputation as a way of keeping a lid on that contract cost.

This latest round of suspicion - yes, it's happened before - comes in the wake of a report from 105.3 The Fan that some people at The Star are whispering that Parsons' behavior has ‘worn thin'' and that his departure would result in some of his bosses/co-workers "smiling or breathing a sigh of relief.''

We address in this space the maybe-accidental damage caused by the team going public with such thoughts; the very people who should be helping the Micah "focus on winning'' are committing the same sin he's being accused of ... because feeding the media negative angles about a team's own players certainly doesn't represent that team's "focus on winning.''

But in addition to the hypocrisy, there is this accusatory theory, which has legs because none other than Cowboys ex Dez Bryant is announcing it.

“This,'' Bryant said on Twitter, addressing Parsons directly, "this is what happens whenever it's time to get paid. ... S---, I know how this goes.''

How does it go? If one chooses to accept the possibility of what Bryant calls a "smear'' campaign, one reflects back a few weeks when Dak Prescott, who is also up for a pricy extension, what in the headline in a local newspaper story that due to his losing playoff record compared him unfavorably to the likes of Blake Bortles, Case Keenum and Ryan Tannehill.

That smelled like a story planted by the team in order to ... accomplish something other than paying Prescott.

More recently, team owner Jerry Jones announced that he's pondering whether CeeDee Lamb, who is up for a pricy extension as well, "is that valuable, to have to give up four or five players to have him ... you've got to get that reconciled.''

That smells like a setup in order to ... accomplish something other than paying Lamb.

And now we have Parsons' name in the news - by the way, not because the media outlet erred; reporting the news is the job. The err comes from the Cowboys themselves - "Way too many people'' who are saying this ... I’m talking about at least four different people (have told me) that Micah has worn thin there,” The Fan's Shan Shariff said.

Added Shariff: “I don’t know how much is true and how much it actually hurts (his reputation). I don’t know whether this is the behavior of a typical superstar. I don’t how damaging it is.''

And that just smells wrong.

And to the central problems, if the accusation of a contract-related conspiracy is to be believed: Besides being counterproductive - it surely doesn't help Prescott, Lamb or Parsons' mindset (or maybe even their desire to play in Dallas) to be discussed in these ways - the amateurish, clumsy and outmoded "keep-the-cost-down'' strategy doesn't work.

There are too many news outlets, too many voices, too much qualified opinion, for one dirty leak to alter multi-million-dollar deals. The effort is too transparent to fool anybody. ... and actually turns some observers sour when it comes to Dallas management (to the point there are cynics who even think Prescott's sexual-assault case is the result of his own front office's deviousness.) And in the end, consider the Cowboys' long-standing work at signing their own stars. ...

The Cowboys almost always sign 'em. But the Cowboys almost never "win'' the negotiations. And maybe one of the reasons is that they waste time on leaks trying to steer public opinion - time they should be spending on negotiations with the likes of Prescott, Lamb and Parsons.