The Dallas Cowboys kick off the NFL regular season in just over a week, and Micah Parsons still hasn't signed an extension. That is nothing new, but things have turned personal between Parsons and Jerry Jones, who refuses to reach out to Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta.
It will probably take Parsons - and Mulugheta - reaching out to Jones to end this circus. However, Cowboys fans were offered a little bit of hope on Tuesday when the Commanders ended their own contract circus by giving star receiver Terry McLaurin a lucrative extension.
It's a three-year extension worth $32 million per year with upwards of $96 million in new money, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Cowboys need to follow Commanders' lead and just pay Micah Parsons
The real glimmer of hope here is that McLaurin - like Parsons - requested a trade. Many teams are reportedly stunned that the Commanders did not trade McLaurin. General manager Adam Peters dug his heels in, but he ultimately realized how important McLaurin is to the team's success.
Trading McLaurin would have appointed Deebo Samuel as the de facto WR1. Even though Jayden Daniels already has the makings of a superstar quarterback, that would send a wrong message to a team that made the NFC Championship Game in year one of a new regime.
An extension always made the most sense. That is exactly the case with the Cowboys, whose season and immediate future would be dead on arrival if they traded Parsons. Even if Parsons fetched multiple first-round picks and an impact player, Dallas would have to pray the players they use with those picks turn out to be as half as good as the all-world pass rusher.
Much like the Myles Garrett saga in Cleveland, McLaurin's extension is more proof that teams rarely follow through on trade requests from franchise cornerstones.
Parsons might not get a new deal before Week 1, but until there is concrete evidence that the Cowboys will trade him fans should continue to believe that this saga ends with No. 11 reupping with America's Team.