Micah Parsons contract extension: Dan Graziano speculates NFL cap increase could delay new deal

The NFL salary cap is set to increase again in 2025, with it reportedly moving to be between $277.5 and $281.5 million, up from $255.4 in 2024. Seemingly, that would be a good thing for players looking for new contracts, like Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons.

Despite that, ESPN’s Dan Graziano doesn’t know that the increased salary cap is actually going to help Parsons come to a new deal with Dallas. Instead, he actually speculated that the increase could delay the deal for Parsons.

“I don’t know if it has much effect,” Graziano said on Get Up. “Like if you wanted to be really cynical about the Cowboys and say they never spend their money, whatever you can say, it maybe makes it less likely. Because, remember, Micah’s cap number right now is $24 million on a fifth-year option. An extension would lower that. So, if they were up against the cap and they needed to create cap room, the extension would be a way to do that. Now, you could theoretically say this might delay it.”

In recent years, the Dallas Cowboys have had several high-profile extensions that became drawn-out processes, notably the ones for quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb. Now, Parsons is the next star who needs that new deal.

“But I’m not sure this has much of an effect,” Graziano said. “How the Cowboys operate with these extensions, we’ve been over it so much the past couple of years, it usually drags out.”

In 2024, Parsons was able to play in 13 games, after playing in all but one game in the previous three seasons of his career. He put together a year with 12.0 sacks and 12 tackles for a loss on the season anyways, continuing to be one of the league’s best pass rushers. That’s despite it being a difficult season for the Cowboys as a team, going 7-10 and finishing third in the NFC East.

The increased salary cap should also help the Cowboys with Parsons’ recent call to action for the team to spend in free agency this offseason.

“The talent is there. We’ve just got to be aggressive the same way [other teams] did,” Parsons said. “I don’t want to sit back and watch other [teams] build and build and us stay the same. Definitely some call to action. I want to see us become aggressive and get some players that will come in and make an impact. I want to see us bring back our own players. That’s just as important. Let’s see what we can do there.”

Before news that the salary cap would increase broke, Dallas was projected to be $2.4 million over the cap.