Micah Parsons contract dispute: Stephen A. Smith believes deal will get done with Cowboys after conversation with Jerry Jones

ESPN‘s Stephen A. Smith recently sat down with Dallas Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones. Smith pressed Jones about star linebacker Micah Parsons and what has prevented the two sides from getting a contract extension done.

He said on Friday’s “First Take” that after speaking with Jones, he believes Parsons and the Cowboys will “reach an accord” to keep Parsons in Dallas. Right now, however, it’s a standstill between Jones and Parsons with the Week 1 regular season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles just 13 days away.

“For me, it’s at a standstill right now,” Smith said. “I ultimately believe they will reach an accord because I think that Micah is going to get his money. I think Jerry is being as stubborn as he always has been, as counterproductive as he always has been when it comes to signing contracts a little bit later than they should have been signed because you’re compromising your cap.

“But the biggest reason I feel that way is because he is stubborn, he’s unapologetic about it, he swears he’s changed and modified himself to some degree — I don’t believe that. I told him I haven’t seen any evidence of that change, but that’s where he’s coming from and that’s what it is.”

Talks between Parsons and the Cowboys went on throughout the offseason, but the situation reached a new level of tension at the start of training camp. Parsons has not practiced, and he also has been dealing with a back injury. He removed any mention of the franchise from his X and Instagram bios Thursday night, nearly three weeks after he went public with his trade request.

Earlier in the summer, Jones said he talked with Parsons about a new deal, but his agent David Mulugheta wasn’t present. Thursday, Jones said when he approached Mulugheta about details of that framework, he got a poignant response.

“When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass,” Jones said. “Just so we’re clear … [Micah] and I talked and then we were going to send it over to the agent. We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, all that.”

Stephen A. Smith sheds light on what Jerry Jones said about Micah Parsons

Smith’s full conversation with Jones will be up on YouTube later Friday. Smith said he learned that Jones “is as resolute as ever,” taking the stance that he has Parsons under contact for three more years. Parsons is entering the final year of his rookie contract. Dallas can franchise tag him next year and the year after that. Smith added he offered both Parsons and Mulugheta the chance to come on his show. Both declined.

“Jerry hasn’t changed; Jerry is as resolute as ever,” Parsons said. “His mentality is ‘I got you under contract for the next three years. This is the last year of your deal under the rookie scale. And then I can franchise tag you next year and I can franchise tag you the year after. You ain’t gonna walk around here acting like you got leverage that you don’t have.’ … His perception is ‘I’ve got you locked in for three years. You ain’t going nowhere unless I say so.’ That makes a lot of people uncomfortable when you’re listening to Jerry Jones.

“… I think the thing that resonated with me is that he said ‘I didn’t call him, he called me. He wanted to start this negotiation, we had a negotiation, we agreed and then the next thing you know, he calls on the phone and says don’t call me anymore.’ I didn’t hear that before. I didn’t know if that was the truth with Micah — I offered Micah to come on the show. Micah declined; he did not come on the show. I offered his agent David Mulugheta to come on the show; he hasn’t come on the show. There’s no negative or positive to it. I’m just letting you know I offered all of them to come on the show. Jerry Jones didn’t hesitate, and that’s his position.”