Mike Florio ,
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Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones is capable of being, in equal measures, magnetic and repugnant. When it comes to linebacker Micah Parsons, Jerry has recently been more repugnant than magnetic.
Jones has a habit of negotiating directly with players, cutting out agents who are there to do to the negotiating. Appearing on Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin’s podcast, Jones made clear his position that a deal with Parsons was negotiated in direct discussions with the player.
Along the way, Jones said this: “Nobody has ever offered him more money than I have to play football.”
It’s a ridiculous comment. No one else has had a chance to offer Parsons anything to play football, because Parsons has never been a free agent.
Jones exercised the fifth-year option to keep Parsons from getting offers from other teams. Jones apparently intends to tag Parsons — twice — to keep him from becoming a free agent.
It’s baked into the labor deal. Teams can use the fifth-year option and multiple franchise tags to keep players from receiving offers from other teams.
If Jerry truly wants to let other teams try to offer more money to Parsons than the Cowboys have, Jerry can refrain from applying the franchise tag. But he won’t. Because if Parsons were a free agent, someone else would offer Parsons more than Jones would ever be willing to pay.
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