FRISCO, Texas 鈥 If anybody knows how tough the waters of seeking contract extensions can be, it's Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
He went through his own contract negotiations with the Cowboys heading into the 2024 season, which was a frustrating time at points, but ultimately it ended up in him becoming the highest paid player in NFL history.
The story didn't end the same way for Micah Parsons, who was traded to the Green Bay Packers last Thursday. It was a finish to the story of the offseason that Prescott didn't expect.
"Yea, I was," Prescott said when asked if he was surprised by the team's decision to trade Parsons. "I can't say I was completely surprised, but I definitely didn't think he was going to get traded, I'll say that. But just with that their negotiations went down, obviously to some extent鈥 it seemed like it got personal on their ends, so that's why I wasn't surprised."
It was a situation that Prescott, head coach Brian Schottenheimer and just about anyone else in the Cowboys locker room has been asked about. Now, they can move on.
"I don't think anybody's hung up on that. As I said, there's enough news and enough media about it. I think, as much as anything, it's good that a solution happened, Micah got paid, got paid very well, great for him and his family," Prescott said. "We'll see him here in about a month.
"Just honestly glad that, I can't say glad, but glad that we moved past that and everybody seems happy because of it."
Prescott is happy about the fact that now, they don't have to worry about the entire situation becoming a distraction during the season, which starts in just four days time.
"If nothing would have been done, we'd sit here and y'all still would have been asking me whether he was playing in a couple of days or when he was going to be playing, that would be a lot more of a headache and distraction than getting a solution to it."Prescott said.
In exchange for Parsons, the Cowboys got Pro Bowl DT Kenny Clark and two frist-round picks in return. Jerry Jones said the move was to help the Cowboys in the present and in the future, and Prescott believes the team needs to go out and prove that with or without Parsons.
"We added a great player, got some picks for the future," Prescott said. "I'm not going to say we're better, we've got to go out there and prove it. We'd have to prove it even if [Parsons] was on this team, so I'm not going to say that by any means."
Their first chance to try and be better comes on the road in Philadelphia to open the NFL season on September 4.
