As a function of the Dallas Cowboys' "all-in" offseason transforming to the "get it done with less" offseason in 2024, much remains the same about the squad entering the 2024 season, at least on the offensive side of the ball.
The same can't be said for three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons and the Cowboys defense. Even though many of the key personnel remains the same, how the defense is being run will be different. Dan Quinn, the Cowboys' defensive coordinator from 2021-2023 -- years in which the Cowboys were a top five scoring defense and led the league in takeaways (93), is now the head coach of the NFC East rival Washington Commanders, and former Minnesota Vikings head coach and former Cowboys DC Mike Zimmer is back in a familiar role in charge of the Dallas defense.
Under Quinn, Parsons thrived. He became only the fifth player since 1982, when individual sacks became an officially tracked statistic, to have at least 40 (40.5) in his first three NFL seasons, joining former San Francisco 49ers pass rusher Aldon Smith and three Hall of Famers -- Reggie White, Derrick Thomas and Dwight Freeney -- as the only ones to do so.
In his final year in Quinn's defense in 2023, Parsons lined up along the defensive line at the highest rate of his three-year career (87.2% of his defensive snaps per Pro Football Focus) and produced at the highest level of his career. He led the NFL in quarterback pressures (103), quarterback pressure rate (21.8%) and pass-rush win rate (35.3%). Parsons also produced a career-high 14.0 sacks, tied with 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett for the seventh-most in the league, and he produced all of these All-Pro numbers while being double-teamed on 35% of his pass rushes last season, the most in the NFL among edge players, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats.
Quinn is also someone Parsons has referred to as a father-like figure as well as a fun uncle. When talking about his relationship with Zimmer at the tail end of mandatory minicamp in the beginning of June after missing most of the offseason program, Parsons revealed Zimmer was someone he had said "a total of 20 words together." Now, their relationship is starting to develop out at training camp in Oxnard, California.
"What Zimmer is able to get out of his players is no different from Dan," Parsons said on Friday. "I think Zimmer is starting to open up to the guys and be more open with us. We're getting that bond. As camp will go on, it will get better and better and as the season goes on. I think it's still going to be a very good year without Dan. I was blessed to have Dan for three years. He still checks in on me. I still feel like he's my big uncle, someone I love very much dearly. But at the end of the day, I have a job to do and it's to kick his ass twice a year. We can hug afterwards."
Another change for Parsons is that it appears Zimmer is going to ask Parsons to be more of a true hybrid player, lining up regularly at both linebacker like he was as a rookie in 2021 before he transitioned to a full-time edge rusher. In order to prepare for that, he has been meeting with Zimmer and defensive run game coordinator Paul Guenther early in the mornings to go through defensive install work.
"It's almost the same," Parsons said of his role. "Me, Mike and Paul and even Trevon [Diggs] joined us this morning for our early meetings going through install, going through what we're putting in and things like that. As you see, I'm going to do a little bit of both [defensive line and linebacker] as I have in the past. I think the personnel and the packages is good, and I think we have more of an understanding with each other. It's going to be a great year."
"I'm not sure he couldn't play every position out there, to be honest with you," Zimmer said on 96.7 The Ticket, via The Athletic, on Monday. "He's got great acceleration, great quickness, he's extremely brilliant. He's got power and strength. We're trying to figure out a lot of different ways to move him. One week he might be doing this and then next week doing something else. ... We're trying to get him one-on-ones as many times as possible. Playoff games and a lot of the games they struggled with last year, they knew where he was, and they found him. ... Sometimes we're going to have to use him [when offenses are zeroed in on him], we're going to be bringing people from the other side. They can't just sit there and key on him."
Micah Parsons' career defensive snap alignment
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
Defensive Line | 41.3% | 81.1% | 87.2% |
Linebacker | 55.2% | 18.1% | 12.7% |
Defensive Back | 3.5% | 0.8% | 0.1% |
*Data according to Pro Football Focus
He has also shed some weight in order to handle the responsibilities Zimmer is putting on his plate. Parsons bulked up around 250-255 a year ago to better deal with the wear and tear of battling massive NFL offensive linemen on a regular basis, but now he has trimmed himself back down to the 240-245 pound range. Dallas' official team website lists Parsons at 245 pounds, his weight in college at Penn State, but he said he weighed in at 240 on Friday.
"I'm going to be all over man," Parsons said. "At the end of the day, they [opposing offenses] have to find me. That's what I train for. There are some days I would go into the gym and do 500, 600 reps. It's that muscle endurance, that conditioning that you're training for. The long haul. Great trainers and great people helped me understand that more weight doesn't always mean a positive thing. It's just how you train."
Perhaps having Parsons return to a slightly more hybrid role could allow him to preserve his energy and maintain a higher level of consistency down the strech. In 2022, his first season spending over 80% of his snaps along the defensive line, only five-and-a-half of his 13.5 regular-season sacks that season came in the second half of the season, the Cowboys' final eight games from Weeks 11 to 18. Parsons recorded one sack in that postseason in the 31-14 wild-card round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being shut out against the San Francisco 49ers in a 19-12 divisional round loss.
In the 2023 season-ending, 48-32 wild-card round collapse of a loss against the Green Bay Packers, Parsons had the worst game of his NFL career, regular or postseason. He totaled one quarterback pressure and one quarterback hit on 19 pass rushes, which produced the lowest pressure rate in a game of his career (5.3%), per the NFL's Next Gen Stats.
Despite what the numbers say, Parsons disagrees with the assertion that his production tails off in the back half of the season.
"I don't think my production drops off at all," Parsons said. "I think teams do a great job of game planning. I'm still one of the most feared players in the league if you look at it. I just want to be better for myself. I owe it to the fans and the players to be better, to put more commitment into this and do better as a whole. ... I want everyone to feel like it's going to be a great year and that when we get to playoffs, there are no hiccups. Everyone feels strong about what their position is, what their role is and be dominant in their role. There is no man left behind. This year is going to be a great year."
Taking a different leadership approach
Parsons has long been vocal about wanting to be one of the Cowboys' leaders, not just one of its best players. However, he did duck out on postgame media availability in the immediate aftermath of the loss against Green Bay, and he was a no show at Dallas' locker room cleanout media availability the following day. Parsons waited to make comments about the defeat on his "The Edge with Micah Parsons" podcast where he cited embarrassment about the loss as a reason for his actions after the game.
Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy called Parsons skipping out on the second week of the Cowboys' organized team activities in May "an opportunity that's been missed." When he did show up for mandatory minicamp, McCarthy lauded Parsons' presence as a positive "360" effect for both the offense and defense. The 25-year-old understands where his head coach is coming from, and he is working to better earn his leadership status entering the upcoming 2024 season.
"I take accountability for when we lose, and I take all of those losses very personally," Parsons said. "Anyone who knows me, anyone who is close to me knows I hate to lose. ... No matter what my emotions are, I have to find a way to feel accountable for that loss and find a way where I can lead these guys better. There have been tough conversations between me and Mike [McCarthy] and me and the team where they want me to step up. So that starts now. Every day I walk around the meeting and make sure everyone has a notebook. Everyone has a water bottle. To me, there is no excuses. I want to check every box of everything. That way no feels behind. Everyone feels stronger about their playbook. Everyone feels strong about where they are in the defense."
Parsons practicing patience when it comes to future extension
Parsons is entering his fourth season in the NFL 2024, and this offseason marks the first in which the Cowboys are able to offer him a new, long-term extension should they so choose. Naturally, both Jerry and Stephen Jones have mentioned Parsons' eventual contract as a reason to limit their roster spending this offseason, and Stephen Jones indicated that both Parsons and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb want to be "the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league."
That's a sentiment Parsons himself expressed in the locker room at the end of mandatory minicamp in June, which would mean either tying or surpassing the $35 million average per year salary on Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson's four-year, $140 million deal he signed this summer. He also envisions playing his entire career with the Cowboys in an effort to build a lasting legacy in Dallas.
"The Star holds so much weight and the legacy it brings," Parsons said. "It's nothing like wearing the star when you do it the right way. In terms of being here, I want to be here my whole life. I plan on building a house here and being in Dallas forever. I love this city, I love the community. I love what it stands for. ... To be honest with you, I always tell you guys, the contract stuff will always take care of itself. Winning games is what I need to take care of. I'm focused on winning games and making plays, getting sacks and Jerry can meet up with the agent later. They can handle all the other stuff. I'm on my first deal, and I know I have two years left here so I'm going to try to maximize those as much as possible."