Cowboys deserve credit for early Jake Ferguson extension, but Micah Parsons mess still lingers

The kick of toxic habits at the sidewalk cannot occur overnight. The path to recovery takes time, but the Dallas cowboys took a few steps in the right direction when it comes to being more proactive with the identification and re-signating of players they want to be part of the long-term future of the team.

No, it was not Micah Parsons, but the news announced Sunday that Dallas re-signed the tight end of the pro Bowl Jake Ferguson to a $ 52 million contract over four years with $ 30 million in guarantees, according to NFL media. The Cowboys re-signal Ferguson, their choice of fourth round in 2022, before the last season of his recruit contract in 2025, even after a campaign in 2024 in the grip of injuries. He underwent a knee injury in week 1 at the Cleveland Browns last season that he could not shake completely. Ferguson’s misfortunes were worsened by a concussion during week 11 against Houston Texans and the quarter-Arrière Dak Prescott suffering from a tear of the end of the season in the week 9 at the Falcons of Atlanta. All this was added to Ferguson producing only 59 catches for 494 yards and without affected on 86 targets, making 2024 the first season of his NFL career without a touchdown.

“My knee hurt me,” said Ferguson about the 2024 season in the mandatory minicamp. “The concussion was bizarre, but I already said it: if I am on the field, I should be able to give everything. So I was certainly not satisfied with the way I played all the year last year. I do not think that I never played a full season and I did not marked a touch, so it was something that I entered this intersane which really worked.”

The previous season in 2023, Ferguson and Prescott made soft music together. The tight end captured 71 passes for 761 yards and five affected on 102 targets, which led to his only sign of Pro Bowl in his three -year career. Prescott launched a pass of a touch of 36 NFL hit this season and won the Ligue MVP finalist for his efforts. With a return to health in 2025, Prescott and Ferguson could have significant years of rebounds with the quarter-arre going to tear up tight throws in the middle to the tight end of 6 feet 5 inches and 244 pounds. Many of this was exposed in the compulsory mini-camp in the spring.

“It has been coming back since I got here. I love the sewing ball, he likes to throw it,” said Ferguson. “We just had this game called today, but we took this daily life, the roads in the air, things like that. It is a connection that was built continuously.”

The owner and managing director of Cowboys, Jerry Jones, made an intelligent decision, re-signing a key player before hitting the free agency despite a year of decline. This is the moment of proactivity that would serve Dallas well most often with regard to contract extensions in the future.

“Our relationship is great,” said Prescott about Ferguson on the last day of the compulsory mini-camp. “I think that if I have probably finished this season, he will get a touchdown. He is a guy who is a competitor. He wants to win, has high standards. I know that a year like that, only pushes him. I saw the way he approaches this offseason and attack everything, he is an interpreter on this offense on this offense.

It is time to jones to overcome fears with micah parsons

Jones did everything he could during the press conference of the cowboys introduction camp on Monday to show that he does not do so, most often, Trust his players to stay in fairly good health, long -termTo sign his own marquee players early. The fear of Jones points out why the Rusher All-Pro Edge Micah Parsons remains in the last year of his recruit contract entering in 2025 despite this agreement.

“There is a lot of water under the bridge if you go out there and do something in the first two to three years”, Jones said Monday on the distribution of early contract extensions. “You can be struck by a car. Seriously. There is a lot to look at in many years that could make a big difference.”

Parsons, at the age of 26, was the first player since the bags became followed as an individual statistics in 1982 to record 12 or more bags in each of his first four seasons in the NFL. The temple of renown Reggie White accomplished the feat during its first four seasons played in the NFL but not in its first four years in the League: White was the fourth choice in total to the additional NFL draft, but did not start playing football from the NFL before the 1985 season. According to Trumedia, the 330 quarter-arre 2021 with most of the league with the Bowler Pro of Las Vegas Raiders Maxx Crosby.

However, Jones’ paralysis has it Reflection on the first offers for the Coin de Coin Trevon Diggs and the right tackle Terence Steele Not training due to injuries despite the fact that Parsons is only missing five games in total in four seasons. Four of them were in 2024 due to an ankle sprain, a Jones figure accidentally distorted six games.

“Just because we will sign it, we will have it”, Jerry Jones said Monday. “He was injured [four, not six] Games last year. Seriously. I remember signing a player for the best paid to the League position and was eliminated two -thirds of the year, Dak Prescott. So there are a lot of things you can think of as well as the player does when you plan to commit and guarantee money. “”

The reason why Prescott is on a contract of $ 240 million over four years, which gives it the highest average salary per year (60 million dollars) in the NFL, is that Jones waited to conclude hours before week 1 of last season. He could have signed Prescott at any time after a year down 2022 during which he led the NFL with 15 interceptions. Playing the pending game allowed Prescott to rekindle its lever effect and sign this market reset agreement. It is too late for Jones to recover the lever effect with Parsons, but perhaps it can do what is best for its franchise by re-signing Parsons, then quickly addressing a new contract for the left goalkeeper Tyler Smith-the new chief of the Dallas offensive line. The other key players entering the contract years for cowboys include the All-Pro Daron Bland corner half, the botter All-Pro Brandon Aubrey and the Large receiver George Pickens.

The hope that Jones will change his ways at 82 years could be too much to ask, but Ferguson’s recovery indicates that the owner of the cowboys could adopt a different approach to take care of his best players in the future. Anyway, Startons is the next obvious step.