Why it shouldn’t matter that Micah Parsons reported for voluntary workouts

Micah Parsons showing up to voluntary workouts is nice, but it should not have been a requirement.

The Dallas Cowboys began voluntary workouts on Monday. It marked the first football-ish activity to happen for the team since the organization hired Brian Schottenheimer to be their head coach. Getting off to a promising start is certainly what everybody wants, but setting Schottenheimer up for as much success as possible is ideal.

This idea is why the would-be status of Micah Parsons was of high interest as Monday approached. Parsons and the Cowboys have been in the middle of contract extension talks for some time and the history of the club on these matters does not exactly suggest that they are in a hurry to get it done (despite a mountain of evidence that doing so is wise). From a strictly factual standpoint, Parsons held no responsibility to show up on Monday given the voluntary nature of the activities and choosing not to do so, while he hasn’t in the past when not in contract discussions, could have served as a sign/tactic of sorts.

We needn’t concern ourselves with that hypothetical because Parsons was present and accounted for on Monday. Thank goodness we avoided any of those discussions.

It shouldn’t matter whether or not Parsons showed up or not on Monday

To be clear, we are all allowed to have our opinions. If you believe that Parsons needed to show up on Monday for reasons X, Y or Z then you certainly hold the right to feel that way.

But there is a strong argument that Parsons didn’t need to do anything. It should not have been some requirement, not saying that it was one, for him to show up and prove anything at this point. He is the best player on the team. He is among the best players in the entire league. In terms of off the field activities he has never done anything to suggest he is not worth paying, and this offseason alone he has taken to social media to defend the reputation of the team when his former teammate DeMarcus Lawrence called them out.

Word around social media following news of Parsons’ attendance offered things like “this shows good leadership!” or “this is great to see.” Why? It is nice, but there is no reason that Parsons had to give even more to this point to justify what is likely going to be the biggest non-quarterback contract in league history when he signs it.

Recall that CeeDee Lamb did not show up to anything voluntary last year as he was in the middle of his own contract negotiations. He took a lot of heat for it, but the same thing was true for him at the time as it is for Parsons. Lamb’s career accomplishments spoke for themselves before anything voluntary or mandatory began last year as they did for Parsons prior to Monday. If the Cowboys are truly wanting to have something proven to them then that is where this whole thing has jumped the shark a bit.

Perhaps Parsons chose to attend on Monday just of his own accord and independent of any wants or wishes related to his contract. Obviously anything is possible.

He deserves an extension. This was true before Monday and is equally true whenever you are reading this, unless it is somehow broken that Parsons has a brand new deal with the team by the time you are. Waiting this long has already cost the team more than if they had shown a level of proactivity as many have called for them to do. Are we to believe that the decision for them to hand out somewhere around $40M per year rests on someone reporting to a voluntary workout? That would be horrible process if it were.

It is a good thing that Parsons reported on Monday. Group camaraderie that is built at this time of year is a great thing. It is awesome to see.

Now what would be even greater is for any and all distractions of the contract variety to get taken care of. Parsons has done his part. More so now. Time for the Cowboys to do theirs.