The longer the Dallas Cowboys wait to make a decision on former Penn State star Micah Parsons, the more expensive he'll become. With T.J. Watt and Trey Hendrickson both needing extensions, it's only a matter of time before the Pittsburgh Steelers give Watt what he wants and the Cincinnati Bengals move on from Hendrickson in a deal to a team that will pay him.
While that could still take another few months, and it's possible that the Cowboys will get a deal done on the former Penn State star in the near future, the longer Jerry Jones waits, the bigger of an issue this could become.
The last thing the Cowboys want to do is have to up their offer by a few million dollars per year, as Parsons will certainly be reading the market.
He's well worth being the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, but Jones doesn't seem to be too worried about that right now.
But others are, including Cody Warren of Inside the Star, who urged the Cowboys to make a decision on the All-Pro, adding that locking up Parsons now, even if it's more expensive, would be the smarter plan.
“Locking up Parsons now, even if it’s expensive, is smarter than letting the market climb higher. Delay could cost Dallas tens of millions, and risk alienating their most valuable defensive player,” Warren wrote.
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Everything Warren says makes perfect sense, as the Cowboys have to understand that the price will only go up when other players get deals.
For a Cowboys team that’s aiming to be much better next season, there are other reasons why they should also keep Parsons around.
Making him unhappy throughout these negotiations shouldn't be something they want, but at some point, that's how things will turn out.