Did Cowboys ‘Screw’ Micah Parsons on Fifth-Year Option? Truth on Contract, Position, CBA

The Dallas Cowboys got a lot of criticism for edge rusher Micah Parsons' fifth-year option being filed as a defensive end and not a linebacker. Was it their fault?

The Dallas Cowboys are no stranger to criticism. Some of it is well-deserved, like unprecedented playoff losses to seventh-seeded teams. Other times, Dallas’ misfortunes can be washed away as bad luck or the wrong side of variance, in which their decisions played a part in its downfall.

Sometimes, though, people just like to get mad at the Cowboys.

On Tuesday, Dallas decided to use the fifth-year option on superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Dec 24, 2023; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) looks on against the Miami Dolphins during the fourth quarter at Hard Rock Stadium / Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

The option values are decided by averaging the top five salaries at a given position. By filing Parsons as a defensive end and not a linebacker, Parsons lost out on $2.7 million.

Of course, this is helpful for the Cowboys’ navigation of the cap space, an issue made more urgent by quarterback Dak Prescott’s incoming $59 million cap hit (though an extension to alleviate that might be expected). As such, fans far and wide came to Parsons’ defense.

To an extent, they were right. Screwing Parsons out of significant money is a legitimate labor issue. However, their pitchforks may have been pointed in the wrong direction.

The Cowboys did not choose to accept his option at defensive end via some clever or cruel trick  – the collective bargaining agreement decided that for them.

“For a Drafted Rookie selected in the first round of the 2018 or any subsequent Draft who is selected to two or more Pro Bowls on the original ballot during any of his first three seasons, the Paragraph 5 salary for the player’s Fifth-Year Option shall equal the Franchise Tender that applies in the League Year that is the fourth year of the Rookie’s Contract … for players at the same position … at which the Rookie participated in the most plays during his third League Year,” the CBA states.

Parsons is an edge rusher, essentially a hybrid between a defensive end and a linebacker. But the league is archaic in its positional designations, relying on distinctions that don’t truly exist in today’s game.

Separating members of the front seven into interior linemen, edge rushers, and off-ball linebackers would effectively solve this issue, but may open a Pandora’s box of negotiations the NFLPA may not find fruitful.

Cowboys Pick Up Fifth-Year Option on Micah Parsons; But Not As Linebacker?

The $2.7 million Parsons lost out on will be more than made negligible by the extension Dallas will eventually (presumably) sign him to. In the end, this fifth-year option is a placeholder only and it is unlikely he will ever actually play for the $21 million number in 2025. Far more likely is a new extension forged well before 2025 that puts him in the $30 million APY range that could make him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.

A huge move is coming … but until then, his gripe -if he has one - is with the league and his own NFLPA union that negotiated this nonsense … and the misfortune of playing a few too many snaps on the line of scrimmage.

So the placeholder (if not the actual salary) on the fifth-year option for the linebacker position is $24 million. And fifth-year option for the defensive end position is $21.3 million. And as for the reports that Micah should “file a grievance” against somebody? 

Maybe he should. But not against the Cowboys, and not against the NFL. His gripe should be with his own union.