Dallas Cowboys fans in Oxnard, California, for training camp chanted "Pay Micah!" at owner Jerry Jones over the weekend as the contract standoff with star pass rusher Micah Parsons continues.
Jones admitted he heard the plea from fans, but he dismissed the animosity, recalling that fans were even louder last year during receiver CeeDee Lamb's standoff.
"I heard it light, but not compared to how I heard them say, 'Pay Lamb [last year],' " Jones said on Sunday, via ESPN. "That was a faint little sound compared to the way they were hollering last year, 'Pay Lamb.' ... Whoever's not in, you can count on a few hollering that. But it was a big loud chant last year on Lamb."
Asked about where they were with Parsons' deal, Jones became tight-lipped.
"Really, I don't have anything to comment there at all," Jones said. "Just no comment."
Similarly, executive vice president Stephen Jones echoed his father's thoughts, reiterating a preference to keep talks with Parsons "in-house." He also noted he heard the fans calling to pay Parsons.
"It doesn't change anything," he said. "We want to pay Micah, too. He's got to want to be paid, too."
Parsons is set to earn $24.007 million in the final year of his rookie contract -- a veritable bargain considering the $40 million being made by pass rushers at the top of the market.
The question in Dallas is whether, as with Lamb and Dak Prescott last year, sides will figure out a new contract before the season starts to make Parsons the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history, or whether the Cowboys will kick the can into 2026 and play the franchise-tag game with their star pass rusher.
