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Good morning! We’re holding out for a great weekend.
On Script: Jerry Jones runs the old playbook
Micah Parsons, the 26-year-old defensive dynamo with 52 1/2 sacks and two first-team All-Pro nods across his first four seasons, reported to Dallas Cowboys training camp this week.
But he’s still waiting for a contract extension that would make him the highest-paid edge rusher in football, and Jerry Jones is talking like an owner who won’t make that deal. He has suggested he didn’t even know Parsons’ agent’s name, and last week, he exaggerated Parsons’ minimal injury history. Parsons’ rookie contract runs out after this season.
If any of this seems familiar, well…
- September 1993: Emmitt Smith held out for the first two games of the season, angling for “Thurman Thomas money.” After the Cowboys started 0-2 without the future all-time rushing king, Jones acknowledged to reporters, “The leverage pendulum swung because of the loss.” Jones gave Smith more than Thomas made from the Bills.
It turned out to be a familiar pattern. Fast forward a few decades, and Jones’ form holds:
- July 2019: “You don’t have to have a rushing champion to win the Super Bowl,” Jones said as running back Ezekiel Elliott held out. He then gave Elliott the largest running back contract in league history, which ended in a bunch of dead cap money.
- August 2023: “You got to put that one on and say we just move on here without him,” Jones said as All-Pro guard Zack Martin sat out. Jones said he needed to preserve money to eventually pay … Parsons. I wonder if anyone has mentioned this to Jones in the past few weeks. Anyway, Jones caved to Martin’s demands.
- August 2024: “I don’t have any urgency to get it done,” Jones said while CeeDee Lamb waited for a mega-extension. The receiver replied, “lol,” in tweet form. Jones made him the second-highest-paid WR in the league.
Jones isn’t always this hostile toward his stars. He didn’t say anything so inflammatory about Dak Prescott as the sides negotiated their megadeal, for example. And these public standoffs between Jones and his most important players usually end up being pointlessly fleeting.
Jones is a capitalist’s capitalist and a showman, and one wonders if he somehow enjoys this. I asked someone who would know: Jon Machota, the longtime Cowboys beat writer covering the team for The Athletic: Does Jones have a real plan, or can he just not help himself?
💬 There’s no question Jones loves the business side of football, and that includes negotiating contracts. He’s probably won on most deals in his business life, from oil and gas to real estate to football. He certainly won on his gamble to buy the Cowboys for $140 million in 1989. But he hasn’t been winning when it comes to the deals of his top players. After Prescott eventually became the highest-paid player at $60 million per season, most thought other QBs would top that, but it hasn’t happened. Prescott, Elliott, Lamb, Martin and Dez Bryant have all eventually gotten what they wanted. There’s no reason to think the same won’t happen for Parsons.
At some point, wouldn’t Jones change his PR strategy? Well, perhaps not:
💬 While the holdouts cause angst for so many involved, it never seems to bother Jones. It’s as if this is part of the fun for him: It keeps everyone talking about him, which he clearly enjoys. At 82, he is highly unlikely to change.
Congrats in advance to Parsons.
News to Know
The greatest stat line ever?
A’s rookie Nick Kurtz became the 20th player to hit four home runs in a game last night. But it wasn’t your ordinary four-homer game (if such a thing exists). Kurtz finished the night 6-for-6 with eight RBIs, six runs and 19 total bases — and was a few feet shy of the first five-homer game in MLB history. Oh, and the 22-year-old did it in just his 66th major-league game. It’s an all-timer.
Messi suspended by MLS
Lionel Messi and fellow Inter Miami star Jordi Alba were suspended one game for skipping Wednesday’s MLS All-Star Game. MLS commissioner Don Garber told The Athletic the decision to suspend the players was a very difficult one, although the policy has been in place for a number of years. Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas called the rule “draconian” while relaying that Messi was “extremely upset” by the suspension. Read his full comments.
More news:
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The Bengals and first-round pick Shemar Stewart finally reached agreement on his four-year, fully guaranteed contract. The standoff is over.
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More than 100 NFL players were fined for reselling Super Bowl 59 tickets above face value, a league source told The Athletic. Read more here.
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In college football news, Michigan and Western Michigan are set to open the 2026 season in Germany. It’s a first.
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The Yankees made their first move of the trade deadline, acquiring Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon. Reviews are mixed.
- Reds manager Terry Francona and Rays manager Kevin Cash continued their longstanding prank war last night, with Francona playing a loop of Cash striking out on the jumbotron. See the video.
Watch Guide
📺 WNBA: Sparks at Liberty
7 p.m. ET on NBA TV
Though not nearly as dominant so far as they were in their title-winning season last year, the Liberty remain a front-line contender. The recent return of Jonquel Jones from injury, to join Breanna Stewart and Sabrina Ionescu, will only make them better.
📺 MLB: Dodgers at Red Sox
7:15 p.m. ET on Fox
Has there ever been a more fun stylistic clash of left-handed starters than 37-year-old Clayton Kershaw and 26-year-old Garrett Crochet?
Pulse Picks
Our MLB staff picked one player from each franchise who will be wearing a new uniform by Thursday. Click.
Time’s list of the 100 best podcasts ever, featuring “The Tennis Podcast” — which joined The Athletic’s network earlier this year — among six sports picks.
Brendan Kuty’s great read on how Aaron Judge helps make his teammates better.
I just finished this affecting story in New York Magazine about how two high school football buddies ended up joining a coup in Congo. Haunting, but brilliantly done. — Chris Branch
Branch recommended these straw cups for toddlers a while ago, and I regret how long we waited to get a couple. The most spill-proof we’ve tried, much to my little guy’s frustration. — Torrey Hart
Aaron Rodgers has a lot more to lose with the Steelers than he did with the Jets, as Ian O’Connor writes.
Saw “Mission Impossible” and “Superman” last weekend. Pure popcorn cinema. Kept muttering “Love going to da movies” to myself. 10/10. — Patrick Iversen
Ben Pickman had a helpful primer earlier this week on WNBA CBA negotiations, including the current sticking points.
Was reminded this week it’s been 10 years since Tame Impala’s “Currents” dropped. A top-drawer evolution. Even Pitchfork was like dang. — Chris Sprow
Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: The Tour de France detour after a herd of cows was culled.
Most-read on the website yesterday: “An MLB pitcher walked away from $12 million. He tells us why he has no regrets.”
Ticketing links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Top photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)
