The day before his team reports to training camp, Jerry Jones decided to do an interview. It didn’t go well. He had some choice words and actions for his players. On Trevon Diggs, he regretted ever giving him an extension and then fined him $500,000 for not doing his injury rehab in Dallas, an injury he suffered while playing for Jerry btw. On Dak Prescott, he questioned making him the highest paid player in the league if he was just going to get injured. Of course, Jerry could have avoided making him the highest paid player but painted himself in a corner. Most importantly though, he took a shot at Micah Parsons for wanting an extension if he is still under contract and was hurt last year.
This all radiates old man miser energy, just a guy who doesn’t understand why he should have to pay anyone. Personally, I’m on Team Jerry. Let this man alienate his employees and continue to make bad personnel decisions. IT’S HIS TEAM! Pay no attention to how those Super Bowl Champions in Philadelphia handle their business. In fact, let’s dissect Jerry’s method so we too can learn how to be a Master Negotiator too.
What to Know
Just a few basics for the uninitiated and Jerry Jones. I’m not sure he is aware of the fundamentals of contract extensions. First, a rookie contract can be extended beginning after the player’s 3rd year in the league. Second, contracts go up year over year. Third, players have pride and would like to get paid as much as possible, not just for the money, but for their status in the industry.
Dak Prescott
The Cowboys drafted Prescott in the 4th round and struck gold, he became the starter immediately. After his 3rd season, the team chose not to extend him. That offseason, Russell Wilson signed a top of the market extension with the Seahawks, 4/$140m. Eagles fans might remember that not too long after, Carson Wentz inked a 4/$128m deal. The Top 6 QBs all had an AAV between $30-$35m in 2019.
With any obvious foresight, Jerry would have signed Dak to something in that range (and probably could have been closer to the Wentz contract). Let’s give everyone the benefit of the doubt and say he gets 4/$144m, $36m per season, and becomes the highest paid player in the league. He still would have made very little that season under his rookie contract ($2m) and they could have spread the cap hit easily over the 5 years. Looking ahead, by the time that contract would be in its final season, it would have been the 9th highest in the league with Aaron Rodgers pacing the QBs with $50m. Great! The next offseason was the year Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, and Lamar Jackson all received extensions. He could have topped Jackson with $53m per season, 4/$212m. That contract would have run through 2027. To find his next deal, if that’s even something they are interested in, the high mark would only be the Joe Burrow and Josh Allen contracts of $55m AAV for a comparable (Dak is currently the highest at $60m, lol). He is definitely not getting more than them at this point.
Instead, Jerry played hardball and refused to act early on Dak’s contract extensions. In 2020 he franchise tagged him for $31.4m. The franchise tag might offer a 1-year discount, but comes with a 20% raise the next season and 44% if done a third time. This basically takes all the leverage away from the team. That happened to be the offseason that Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes received big extensions pushing the market further. Jerry finally caved, like everyone knew he would, and gave Dak 4/$160m. This placed him 2nd behind Mahomes at the time. 3 seasons later, he topped the market with a damn near fully guaranteed 4/$240m contract that still outpaces the rest of the league 2 years in.
Here is what it looks like year by year:
^ likely extension year
| Year | Early AAV | Actual AAV |
| 2020 | $36m | $31.4m |
| 2021 | $36m | $40m |
| 2022 | $36m | $40m |
| 2023 | $36m | $40m |
| 2024 | $53m | $40m |
| 2025 | $53m | $60m |
| 2026 | $53m^ | $60m |
| 2027 | $53m ($6m guaranteed) | $60m^ |
| 2028 | $55m? | $60m ($51m guaranteed) |
| Total High End | $411m | $431.4m |
| Total Low End | $309m | $422.4m |
For the price of an extra $4.6m in 2020, Jerry could have saved $20m if he wanted to stay in the Dak business or $113.4 if he wants to move on after next season (they do). These numbers are assuming a deal beating Russell Wilson in 2020 rather than something closer to Carson Wentz.
CeeDee Lamb
On paper it looks like Jerry made a solid deal with CeeDee Lamb. After the WR market had been stagnant for 2 seasons and led by Tyreek Hill’s $30m AAV, Lamb probably could have signed for 4/$124m after his 3rd season. Instead, by waiting a year Jerry signed Lamb to a 4/ $136m deal while also getting the benefit of his $18m 5th year option. He basically exchanged a 4 year $31m AAV deal for a 5 year $31m AAV deal. That’s not bad assuming you want to eventually give him another contract down the line. One problem though. By getting the same deal a year later, he messed with the negotiating window for Micah Parsons.
Micah Parsons
Now let’s see how this same practice is going to work for Micah Parsons. In the past I have written about Jalen Carter and how Ja’Marr Chase, Parsons, and others weren’t chasing their positions, but were competing in a group of elite non-QBs. That market is currently paced by TJ Watt’s recent contract after getting a bump by new contracts for Chase and Myles Garrett. Watt’s $41m is now what Parsons is looking to beat. It wasn’t always like this.
Parsons was drafted in 2021, famously in a trade that netted the Eagles DeVonta Smith and the Giants a bag full of nothing. This means he was up for a contract extension after the 2023 season. The Cowboys didn’t give him that extension. He is up for an extension again, but it is increasingly looking like he will play this year under his $24m 5th year option.
In 2024, the offseason started with Nick Bosa leading the way with $34m per season. Jerry probably could have acted quickly and signed Parsons to a 4/$140m contract in March. It would have topped the market and everyone would have been happy in Arlington. By June though, Justin Jefferson got on the board with that same 4/$140m contract. Ok, beat him out by a little bit at 4/$144m. Great, $36m per year, right? Not good enough for Jerry. Why? Because he was currently negotiating with CeeDee Lamb, trying desperately not to give him that same deal. No deal for Parsons.
What’s Parsons’ value now? Well, the market has gone up. If you are Parsons, you are not going to accept a penny less than Watt’s AAV. After all, Parsons is 4.5 years younger and the same level of player. I bet the asking price right now is 4/$168m at least. Jerry’s negotiating tactics so far have been to demean Parsons in interviews, question his leadership and durability, and claim that Parsons’ agent is the one screwing things up. It isn’t working.
What happens if Parsons plays out this season on his option? He will either become a free agent or will play 2026 under the franchise tag. The franchise tag will come with a value of at least $37m for next season. Of course, there is a strong chance that we are going to see other extensions between now and next offseason including Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Trey Hendrickson, Aiden Hutchinson, and Will Anderson. $45m per season is not out of the question by this time next year. Are you going to keep waiting Jerry? How does 4/$180m sound? What about 5/$225m? It’s a good thing you didn’t pay him 4/$140 when you had the chance.
Philly Front Office 
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