PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones does not believe a deal between the club and star pass rusher Micah Parsons is far off.
Jones said Parsons called him from Abu Dhabi to set up a meeting and within the past two weeks the owner and the Pro Bowler met for "five or six hours," in the owner's office at The Star in Frisco, Texas, to work out a long-term extension.
"Most of the issues we are in agreement on. We discussed it all," Jones said Tuesday during a break in the NFL's annual meeting at The Breakers resort. "But we obviously don't have an agreement relative to the new contract."
Jones mentioned the length of the deal, guaranteed money and overall money is worked out.
So why is there no deal yet?
The finer details that are left to Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones and Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta.
Those could take time; however, Jerry Jones said the discussions are much further along at this time than what the organization went through last offseason with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who missed the offseason program and most of training camp before signing a four-year, $136 million deal in August.
"I'm the one who has to sign the check and Micah is the one who has to agree to it," Jones said. "That's the straightest way to get there, is the one who writes the check and the one who is agreeing to it talking."
The Joneses have had direct talks with players regarding contracts, such as those with Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Jason Witten and Tony Romo. Agents get frustrated by the practice, but Jerry Jones does not believe it's a big deal.
"Are you kidding me? That's just not something that you should worry about," Jerry Jones said. "You should be worrying about your ability to make it work and you should be worried about what the player does. Does he have good enough health? Does he have enough skill to do what you're paying him the money for? The agent is not a factor here. And I don't know his name. And so my point is that I'm not trying to demean him in any way but this isn't about an agent."
Parsons took to social media to defend Mulugheta, posting, "I will not be doing any deal without @DavidMulugheta involved! Like anyone with good sense I hired experts for a reason. There is no one I trust more when it comes to negotiating contracts than David! There will be no backdoors in this contract negotiation."
Jones does not view getting a deal done as "urgent," going so far as to say it's "absolutely nonessential to have a deal with Micah as far as structuring our salary cap for the next year or two."
Parsons is set to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, and the Cowboys could use the franchise tag on him in 2026.
In the past month, the Las Vegas Raiders signed Maxx Crosby to a three-year, $106.5 million extension and the Cleveland Browns made Myles Garrett the highest-paid defensive player with a four-year extension worth $40 million per year. Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase became the highest-paid non-quarterback at $40.25 million per year.
"What I do is what fits me and what fits the circumstances behind what I'm doing," Jones said.
Earlier Tuesday, coach Brian Schottenheimer said he expects Parsons to be a participant at the voluntary offseason program, which starts Monday.
Over the past two years, Parsons has not been a frequent attendee, working mostly on his own in the early conditioning work and organized team activities. He has been at the mandatory June minicamp.
"Hey, look, at the end of the day this is a business, and when you're dealing with the money that's being tossed around, not just with Micah but with the big-name players, negotiations sometimes take time," Schottenheimer said. "I feel very comfortable. Micah said he's going to be around. I think that he wants to be. I think we're all very comfortable with that. And at the end of the day he's a great player and we think he's just getting started, to be honest with you. I have no question in my mind that he'll be around."
An extension would almost guarantee Parsons' participation, especially since the Cowboys put salary de-escalators into contracts for players who miss a certain percentage of the workouts.
The Cowboys have been criticized for waiting too long to get deals done, such as with Dak Prescott and Lamb last year, but Jones does not believe the process has cost the Cowboys the opportunity to sign other players.
"I've never had anything I wanted that I couldn't get. Ever," Jones said. "I'll figure out a way."