Though this all may not matter if he gets a new deal, Micah Parsons filed a grievance with the league earlier this year regarding his 2025 salary. Parsons, according to bothPro Football Talk's Mike FlorioandThe Dallas Morning News' Calvin Watkins, filed a lawsuit earlier this year regarding his fifth-year option salary with the Cowboys. Parsons believes that his salary for the season should be $24 million, while both the Cowboys and the NFL have his salary slated to be $21.324 million. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Though that's a relatively small amount, especially considering what he's angling for extension-wise, the issue is over his position. Listed as a defensive end, Parsons considers himself a linebacker and has actually won several awards at the position — including the Rookie of the Year award in 2021. Fifth-year options are based on positions and the one that players "participated in the most plays during his third league year," which leads to the nearly $3 million discrepancy. Parsons has been angling for a new contract all offseason, andeven requested a trade to try and make his pointknown as talks with the Cowboys don't seem to be getting anywhere. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said thathe offered Parsons record-breaking moneyin March in an apparent handshake deal, but Jones said that Parsons' agent rejected that agreement. Jones has made it clear he doesn't plan to honor Parsons' trade request, andsaid he expects him to be out therewhen the team opens the regular season against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 4. Parsons has more than proven himself as one of the best defensive players in the league in recent years. He's had at least 12 sacks in every season, and had 43 total tackles last year in just 13 games while being limited with an ankle injury. Parsons has still been limited at practice, in part due to a back injury, and head coach Brian Schottenheimer said this weekParsons may have a limited workloadas he tries to "ramp up" early on. Again, this grievance may not matter if Parsons and the Cowboys reach a new deal. The difference between linebackers and edge rushers or defensive ends isn't much, either, which could make the grievance significantly more difficult all around. But this isjust another example of how messy things have becomebetween Parsons and the Cowboys this offseason. Withtheir season-opener a little over a week away, it's not a great sign.
