Micah Parsons and 6 Other Cowboys Holdouts—and How the Standoffs Ended

Micah Parsons was set to earn $24 million in 2025 after the Cowboys picked up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract. However, after the franchise neglected to engage with his agent to offer him a contract extension, the edge rusher asked for a trade.

Although Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones had said the Parsons standoff might extend into the regular season, it didn’t quite last that long. A week before the start of the season, Dallas traded Parsons to the Packers, which offered him a four-year, $188 million contract to make him the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL. 

If you’re sensing that contract holdouts are common for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys, “It’s not just in your head,” NFL insider Diana Russini told FOS Today. 

Who usually wins when Cowboys ownership and players are at odds? Here is the history of the most prominent contractual disputes:

1. Michael Irvin (1992): Michael Irvin was coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance when Cowboys training camp opened for the 1992 season. Irvin wasn’t there, as he and his agent tried to negotiate a contract that would pay him $1.4 million and make him the league’s second-highest-paid receiver behind Jerry Rice. The Cowboys held firm at $1.25 million. The Cowboys won, and Irvin signed a three-year deal in September, a few days before the season began.

2. Emmitt Smith (1993): The future Hall of Famer headed into the 1993 season having led the NFL in rushing for two consecutive years and helped turn a league laughingstock back into Super Bowl champions. Smith, however, hadn’t benefited much from the team’s success, making less than $800,000 total in base salary in his first three seasons. Looking for a better deal, he sat out the first two games of the 1993 season. After the Cowboys lost both games, they agreed to a four-year extension paying him nearly $4 million per year. Dallas went on to finish 12–4 and won its second straight Super Bowl.

3. Dez Bryant (2015): Although he never held out, receiver Dez Bryant reportedly went so far as to call the Cowboys and threaten a holdout just days before a July 15 deadline to work out an extension for franchise-tagged players. Both sides made a deal by the deadline, and Bryant signed a five-year contract extension worth $70 million—an upgrade from the one year and $12.8 million left on his deal. Though Bryant made his third Pro Bowl in 2016, the Cowboys released him after the 2017 season. 

4. Zack Martin (2018, 2023): With one year left on his rookie deal in 2018, the standout guard had already made the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons. But the team exercised its option to keep him for a fifth year. Martin sat out team activities, before signing for six years in June at an average salary of $14 million. When they got to 2023, with two years left on that deal, Martin was ready for another contract readjustment. He got his wish with less than a month before the regular season, returning to the field with a renegotiated deal that paid him $18.4 million for the final two seasons. Martin retired after the 2024 campaign, with $8.8 million still due to him on that deal.

5. Ezekiel Elliott (2019): In 2019, the Cowboys running back had two years remaining on his rookie contract. But after twice leading the league in rushing, Elliott skipped camp and the preseason, spending most of his 41-day holdout in Cabo San Lucas. The Cowboys blinked first, signing Elliott to a six-year, $90 million extension that made him the league’s highest-paid running back. He rejoined the team just four days before their first game.
   
6. CeeDee Lamb (2024): Atll-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb didn’t report to minicamp or training camp in 2024, as he looked for a big-money extension to his rookie contract. The Cowboys ultimately signed him to a four-year, $136 million deal that made him the second-highest-paid non-QB in league history (at the time). He returned just in time for the regular season.