Micah Parsons is still waiting for his big extension.

While the superstar defender is present at training camp with the Dallas Cowboys, he’s still hoping to secure a contract extension that will make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

The price on Parsons’s extension has only gone up, as several other players have reset the market for elite edge rushers since he first became eligible for an extension.

But if you ask team CEO Stephen Jones about the issue, he insists that the team doesn’t drag out contract negotiations.

“We don’t drag deals out. We do deals when there’s an opportunity to do a deal,” Jones said while speaking with 105.3 The Fan on Wednesday. “Certainly, no one knows what goes on internally with a particular negotiation, but sometimes agents and players are ready to pull the trigger until they see other cards play. What we’re not going to do is go out there and do something that’s irresponsible in the name of getting a deal done one month earlier.”

In a somewhat comical turn of events, Jones’s explanation was sparked by the host asking if the reason the Cowboys draw out negotiations is because it helps with marketing, keeping Dallas in the headlines through training camp. While Jones might not want to admit it if that were the case, he instead passed on the lifeline and insisted that the team is simply negoatiating The Right Way.

Jones’s argument is pretty easy to dismantle for anyone who has tracked how the Cowboys' last few training camps have gone. As is the case with Parsons this year, Dallas has regularly delayed paying their stars—including CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott—and their decision to wait has time and time again cost the team money in the long-term as other deals get done and push the eventual contracts of the Cowboys stars higher.

Had the Cowboys hustled to make Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league last year, they likely could’ve gotten a deal done for somewhere around $34 million per year, which was the high mark at the time. That number has since grown to $41 million per year thanks to T.J. Watt’s recent deal with the Steelers.

What might be most painful to the ears of Cowboys fans is that Jones insists that their process helps prevent the team from doing deals that are “irresponsible,” as it could be argued that the least responsible thing the team could do at this point is frustrate a player of Parsons’s caliber when his contract demands are pretty much in line with his production on the field.

It feels inevitable that a deal with Parsons gets done at some point before the start of the season. When it does get finished, it will likely be for more money than it could’ve been a few months ago. Both Jones and his father have already made headlines this season with their less-than-subtle handling of public negotiations. And if a deal doesn’t get done, well, the Cowboys might finally be forced to look in the mirror and examine how they handle their stars.

More NFL on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen Jones Says Cowboys Don't Drag Out Contract Talks Despite History of Doing So.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate