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FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons took notes this past offseason. 

He took note of how Dallas' front office's delay in re-signing both quarterback Dak Prescott (four years, $240 million) and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million) prevented the Cowboys from being aggressive in free agency. Parsons also noticed the Cowboys spent an NFL-low $20.13 million in free agency this past offseason, according to OverTheCap.com, which was just over $10 million fewer than the perpetually cap-strapped New Orleans Saints ($30.925 million). 

That's why his goal is to get a long-term extension done with the Cowboys prior to when free agency kicks off in March of 2025. Parsons is currently slated to earn $21.4 million in 2025 on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, but as a superstar of his caliber, he's looking to sign that second NFL contract in the offseason for long-term security reasons. An extension would also reduce his cap hit since the money could be spread out across future seasons.  

"I'm going to try and work with them as much as possible to help them attack free agency," Parsons said Thursday. "I want to be back with this team. This offseason, I want to be here. I want to get these guys right. I want to take big steps, so hopefully it can be done sooner than later so we can attack the offseason."  

Since he's returned from his four-game absence due to a high ankle sprain he suffered in Week 4 at the New York Giants, Parsons elevated his play back to an All-Pro caliber level. He leads the NFL in sacks (7.5), quarterback pressures (39) and quarterback pressure rate (19.5%, minimum 150 pass rush snaps). Parsons and Reggie White are also the only two players with at least 13 sacks in each of their three seasons since 1982, when individual sacks became an officially tracked statistic. That's why he is looking to be one of the NFL's highest-paid players. 

"I think I'm the best player in the world. I don't throw numbers out there like that," Parsons said when asked how much he is asking for. "I'll see what they're willing to give me."

Parsons Since His Week 10 Return
NFL Rank

QB Pressures

39

1st

Sacks

7.5

1st

QB Pressure Rate

19.5%

1st*

Tackles For Loss

6

T-9th

* Minimum 150 pass rush snaps

He did clarify he doesn't need to be paid $40 million and blow the market for non-quarterbacks away. San Francisco 49ers 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year edge rusher Nick Bosa is currently the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL. He makes an average of $34 million per year on a five-year, $170 million deal signed in early September of 2023. However, Parsons made it clear that his new deal doesn't have to make him the league's top compensated defender. He'd rather get to the winning ways set in his first three seasons when Dallas went 12-5 each year from 2021 to 2023. 

"It would be nice to be surrounded by good players," Parsons said. "Players that will help me win championships, I'll say that. To me, having $40 million and being chipped every play and slid into three, four people, that doesn't sound too fun to me. So to me, it's about keeping people that can make a difference and obviously we're going to get [defensive end] Sam [Williams] back [from a torn ACL], some players back. We'll see how it breaks down, but I want to keep as many guys as possible. They will make the cap work, I don't know. I need to be somewhere where I can have a lake house. It could be anywhere, it could be a lake house in Lake Tahoe, you don't know."

Cowboys notable free agents (2025 offseason)

Parsons isn't the only Cowboy looking to help the team's front office make significant moves this offseason. Quarterback Dak Prescott told CBS Sports on Dec. 3 that he's open to restructuring his deal, which makes him the NFL's highest-paid player with a $60 million average per year salary, in order to help Dallas land a "big chess piece." Restructures to both Prescott and Lamb's deals could free up around $56 million of cap space for the 2025 offseason, should the Jones family change their free agency spending philosophy. 

"Yeah I don't think my contract is going to withhold us from making any moves or doing anything that we need to in free agency," Prescott told CBS Sports on Dec. 3. "However, if that big chess piece or big piece comes up, that will require that or does require that, yeah the way that my contract is structured and the way that I believe in this team, I don't think that would be a problem at all to to move things around to make that happen."

Another reason Parsons wants his deal done in early March is because he wants to be a part of more Cowboys continuity throughout the offseason. He saw how Lamb's training camp absence during his contract holdout and his own skipping out on Dallas' offseason program until mandatory minicamp in early negatively impacted cohesion on both sides of the ball. Parsons plans to still take his offseason trips to Japan and China, like he did with Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud last offseason, but he'll make sure to embark on those vacations earlier in the offseason to avoid a scheduling conflict. 

"For sure, I definitely think I need to be here in camp because honestly when so much of the defense is surrounded by your play, your presence, and others getting lined up based off of you, I need to be here so that way I can get these guys [together]," Parsons said. "We can rush together, build that chemistry. So I think it's extremely important that I'm back at OTAs and minicamp and all those types of things."  

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones and Parsons spent some time chatting at practice on Thursday during the special teams drills during their early periods that Parsons isn't involved in. He won't be demanding a date that he wants to be signed by directly to the Jones family, but Parsons is making sure his representation of David Mulugheta and Andre C. Odom of Athletes First know to inform Jerry and Stephen Jones that he is open for business. 

"I can't go up to [executive vice president Stephen Jones] and say, 'I want to get paid here,'" Parsons said. "But our door's open. My people know that."