Cowboys' Micah Debates Dez on NFL Salaries; Easy Solution?

"Can someone please explain this?'' That is the plea from Dez Bryant, the all-time Dallas Cowboys great, as he ponders the perceived inequities in the way the NFL pays certain positions. And the answer from Micah Parsons - and CowboysSI.com - is "yes.''

FRISCO - "Can someone please explain this?'' That is the plea from Dez Bryant, the all-time Dallas Cowboys great, as he ponders the perceived inequities in the way the NFL pays certain positions.

And Micah Parsons - on his way to being an all-time great - is here to help.

“Dez it’s two sides to every story,'' Parsons wrote on Twitter, politely replying to Bryant wondering why the average kicker makes more than the average running back in the NFL. "I don’t think no one’s wrong ... like anything there’s some generational athletes who deserve it and some guys that you can replace and that goes for any position except QB, in most cases!''

Bryant has involved himself in the national conversation on "the devaluation of the running back,'' with the Giants' Saquon Barkley - threatening to sit out rather than play on the $10 million tag offer - as the centerpiece.

But while Dez is our guy, Parsons is right. And the explanation really isn't that complicated, even though an army of NFL running backs are trying to band together in protest.

Simply put, it's supply and demand. It's not a "conspiracy'' against running backs and it's not "unfair.'' It's just like the price of milk vs. gas, or the price of a plumber vs. a schoolteacher. The market is the market.

(Specific to Dez' "backs vs. kickers'' question: Also in play is the fact that each team has just one kicker, while there can be a well-paid running back on a team with a half-dozen inexpensive reserves - dragging down the overall average - behind him. Case in point: Tony Pollard and the Cowboys.)

Can someone please explain this? pic.twitter.com/e9XgywpOF9

— Dez Bryant (@DezBryant) July 18, 2023

Parsons also addressed a related issue, and one we feel like we've solved in our own CowboysSI.com brainstorming session: What about the "unfair'' contracts for "tight ends'' who are actually "star receivers'' with a different title?

Said Parsons: “Travis Kelce should be paid as a reciever!! He has had more production than 75% of the receivers ahead of him! ... I don’t think a players value should be looked upon by position but by what they bring to a team! Including RB’s!!''

Kelce’s current deal has an APY of less than $15 million, so he's the third-highest-paid tight end. But of course, the Kansas City star is more rare and more talented than most receivers ... with that salary translated as only the 19th-highest-number for a wide receiver.

Parsons will eventually be the centerpiece of arguments like this, as we've talked about him someday making $35 million APY and becoming the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the sport. But for now? As we explain in the video below, the union members should petition the NFLPA to demand that receivers, running backs and tight ends are bundled together in how the franchise tag is determined. Call it "Skill Position'' (just as is presently done with O-linemen, where tackles, guards and centers are treated the same).

This wouldn't prevent the league from continuing to sign $1 million backs. But it would raise the bar greatly for the best running backs when free agency comes due ... so the stars would either get tagged at a higher number or not get tagged, thus hitting free agency ... when they can peddle their wares just as it is with gas and milk and plumbers and doctors.

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