In typical Jerry Jones fashion, he made for some interesting headlines on the first day of training camp this summer.
One headline was addressing the elephant in the room, which was extending Micah Parsons' contract. Jones didn't seem worried at the time, and went as far as to compare Parsons' situation with the Emmitt Smith situation in the 90s, where Smith ended up missing the first two games of the 1993 season. While Smith answered questions on the blue carpet of Netflix's "America's Team" premiere, he made it clear that his situation with nothing compared to what Parsons was dealing with.
Cowboys reporter Clarence Hill Jr. asked if there were any similarities on the Parsons situation at the time. Smith replied, "Not even close."
The NFL's all-time leading rusher also made it firm to the media that it wasn't called a "holdout," because Smith was a free agent with no boss, and Parsons was a Cowboys employee wearing a uniform and attending training camp. Smith had a subtle tip for Parsons saying that leadership and accountability are needed in the locker room during difficult times. Smith had no obligation to the Cowboys, but it was clear he wanted to stay wearing the star on his helmet.
"At some point, you as a player have to take on ownership and develop into the leaders you need to develop...It's about bringing others with you because you can't win by yourself. I don't care if you're the quarterback, running back, wide receiver or rush end, or quarterback or linebacker. Everybody's got to come together."
Emmitt Smith's take on Micah Parsons outlines a key cultural difference from 30 years ago
The key difference here is making headlines and creating consistent winning football. Thirty years ago, both of those things were happening with Dallas. Now, it looks like the Joneses only care about the headline portion while abandoning the winning part at this point. Smith makes a great point about leaders. The only flaw is that Parsons can't be a leader if pen isn't being put to paper, and the pen won't click unless Jones gives the green light.
Smith said that he was frustrated that he wasn't lighting up the gridiron during his dispute, but he knew his teammates needed him, badly. The 1993 season started out with the Cowboys clearly missing one of their cornerstones after an 0-2 start. After tense negotiations with Jones not wanting to pay Smith "quarterback money," Smith ended up shaking hands with Jones to become the highest-paid RB in the game at that time.
Parsons was on record last season saying that he didn't care if he got $40 million or not, but this summer, he eventually got tired of the stalling from Jones and felt the Cowboys' front office was more responsible than anyone else to get a deal done. Jones dismissed the idea that Smith ever asked for a trade, and his main objective was to stay with the Cowboys while Parsons directly went to social media to request a trade.
Whether or not people want to admit it, the Parsons saga was a distraction to the team. Obviously, this doesn't make up for trading the best pass rusher in the game, but it was a distraction to say the least. This, plus David Mulugheta and Jones going nose-to-nose, shows this was a disaster that not even the Smith dispute could replicate.
Jones was handed perhaps the easiest decision on a silver platter, and he still couldn't get a deal to work. He could've signed Parsons right after the Super Bowl if he wanted to, but instead, decided to turn back the clock to make headlines like he did over 30 years ago with the best running back he ever had.
Jones and the Cowboys fans may have just took their biggest loss in franchise history.