The offseason to-do list in Dallas isn’t fully checked off
Jerry Jones is a man of his word. Before the 2025 NFL Draft, the czar of the Dallas Cowboys noted that he had a couple of irons in the fire with “two pretty substantive trades” in the works. One of those has since come to fruition with Dallas executing a deal to acquire wide receiver George Pickens from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This trade fills one of the more noticeable holes the Cowboys had on the roster, as they’ve lacked a suitable running mate opposite of CeeDee Lamb for the past few years. There was a school of thought that Dallas could’ve addressed that need somewhere at the draft, but the organization did not select a single wideout at any point during the three-day spectacle. Instead, they deployed their first-round pick on Alabama guard Tyler Booker to address the offensive line, and then went defense with both of their Day 2 picks.
While not addressing the receiver position left folks scratching their heads coming out of the draft, Jones seemingly had an ace in his back pocket and has now laid it on the table with this Pickens deal. Again, this was arguably Dallas’ top offseason need, but it wasn’t their only thing on the offseason to-do list.
And there’s still at least one major move that has yet to be checked off: Signing Micah Parsons to an extension.
When it comes to in-house situations, the looming extension for Parsons is front and center. The star pass rusher is entering the final year of his contract after the Cowboys picked up his fifth-year option last offseason, and is in line to receive an extension that will likely make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
Late last month, Parsons reaffirmed his desire to stay with Dallas, but acknowledged it’s “extremely important” to get a deal done to avoid any sort of training camp holdout. From the Cowboys’ side of things, COO Stephen Jones noted earlier this offseason that “there’s a difference in what we feel is the right number, and what he feels like is the right number.”
While Dallas has typically slow-rolled these massive contract extensions in the past with other players like CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, they are costing themselves the longer they push off getting a deal done with Parsons. This offseason alone, they’ve seen his number increase with the likes of Maxx Crosby, Danielle Hunter, and Myles Garrett all agreeing to extensions.
Specifically, with Garrett, his extension fetched him an average annual salary of $40 million per season. That has him currently as the league’s highest-paid defensive player. If Parsons is eyeing a deal that makes him the highest-paid non-QB, he’d have to exceed the $40.25 million AAV that the Cincinnati Bengals gave to Ja’Marr Chase this offseason.
And Parsons has a solid claim to be within that range, if not exceed it it entirely. He’ll be only 26 at the start of next season and has already established himself as arguably the NFL’s top pass rusher, earning three All-Pro selections and four Pro Bowl appearances. Parsons is also the only player in NFL history with 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons in the league.
So, while this deal for Pickens certainly fills a major need within the Dallas depth chart, there’s still a monumental item left on Jerry Jones’ offseason to-do list.
