The sight of Micah Parsons laying on a treatment table behind the Dallas Cowboys’ bench during their final preseason game may have created negative memes for the elite pass rusher, but provided an apt illustration of the frustration he — and everyone else — clearly feels over his protracted contract saga.

The Cowboys fanbase remains divided over the standoff, with almost as many insisting that Parsons — who was not on the table for treatment — should buckle up his chinstrap and get on the field as those claiming that team owner Jerry Jones should pay the man what he is worth and put an end to what they see as another ridiculously drawn-out drama that will only harm the Cowboys’ chances on the field in 2025.

While head coach Brian Schottenheimer optimistically intoned that he expects to see Parsons on the field when Dallas kick off the new season against reigning champions Philadelphia in a little over two weeks, The Athletic agrees that the player’s actions do not paint as rosy a picture as he continues to ‘hold in’ over the dispute and observe practice from the sidelines rather than taking part. Jones, meanwhile, believes that he and Parsons agreed contract terms back in the spring, a handshake deal that he claims is now being affected by the involvement of Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta, who wasn’t present at the talks, which Parsons insists were largely to address leadership before veering into a conversation about his future in Dallas.

“The world would know that I want Micah if they knew what I had offered him — and he knows what I offered him,” Jones told former Cowboys’ wide receiver Michael Irvin recently. “We had our agreements on terms, amount, guarantees, everything, and were going to send it over to the agent. I already moved off my mark in several areas, [but] the agent is trying to get his nose in it now and improve the mark that we had already set. If he wants to finish up the details, which he should, and do all the paperwork, he can do that. We’re ready to go — but, as far as the amount of money, the years, the guarantees, all of that, we’ve negotiated that.

Jones also reminded the Hall-of-Famer’s YouTube audience that the team effectively holds all the best cards.

“We’ve really got three years to work this thing out [with one year remaining on Parsons’ rookie deal and two options to use the franchise tag],” he clarified. “It’s exactly what happened with Dak [Prescott]. We moved forward and ultimately we got a contract done that made Dak the highest-paid player in the NFL. In this particular case, Micah comes in and plays this year under his contract or it gets very costly, very costly for everybody.”

Jones added that Mulugheta had told the team to ‘to stick [the contract offer] up our ass’, referring to the deal that the owner believes he struck with Parsons during their informal sitdown back in March.

“Somehow the conversation turned into him talking contract with me,” Parsons explained, having initially started discussing his role as a leader, not just on defense, but to the whole roster. “Yes, I engaged in a back and forth in regards to what I wanted from my contract, but at no point did I believe this was supposed to be a formal negotiation and I informed Mr Jones afterward my agent would reach out thinking this would get things done.”

The edge rusher is looking for a deal commensurate with his position amongst the best at his position, with numbers being swayed by recent renegotiations for Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt ($41m per year) and Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns ($40m a year). Parsons is currently set to earn $24m in the final year of his rookie contract, and next year’s franchise tag number for the position is not expected to be much above that.

In now familiar NFL fashion, the Penn State alum has removed all references to the Cowboys from his social media profiles, but posted a series of cryptic messages that appeared to relate to his contract situation. Jones, meanwhile, has doubled down on his stance, telling The Stephen A. Smith Show that ‘there is no room for a third [person]’ in the negotiation, referring to Parsons’ agent.

“The ole Mom-Dad deal been round since the beginning of time, but I’m not gonna fall for that sh*t,” the team owner said, recalling kids playing one parent off against another to get what they wanted. “That’s what’s happening and I’m not gonna fall for it. We’ve had a very, very strong negotiation — and, frankly, it would not have mattered what the negotiation was — but guess who has to be comfortable for this to work? There is no room for a third…”