Stephen A. Smith Rips Cowboys ‘Daddy’s’ Boy Stephen Jones Over ‘Ignorant’ Micah Parsons Comments originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Dallas Cowboys training camp is well underway, and as expected, contract talks have taken center stage instead of football…because, of course, right?
But Jerry and Stephen Jones have made headlines for their comments regarding Micah Parsons’ contract, none of which, to our ears, serve any purpose whatsoever other than keeping the franchise “above the fold” during the offseason, because, again, of course, right?
But Jones might have uttered the most bizarre statement when asked about the fans chanting for Parsons to get paid, stating that he wants the 26-year-old linebacker to get paid, but then oddly adding that Parsons has to want to get paid too.
To be exact …
“It doesn’t change anything,” Jones said of fan pressure to finish Parsons’ deal. “We want to pay Micah, too. He’s got to want to be paid, too.”
What on earth does that even mean? Of course, Parsons wants to get paid, but that is perhaps a little comment that might suggest that he has to want to get paid at the number Dallas wants, not the number he wants.
And for Stephen A. Smith, he has torn shreds of Jones for his comments on Parsons.
“That is one of the most ignorant statements I’ve ever heard come out of the mouth of an NFL executive,” Smith said on First Take. “Stephen Jones, respect to you my brother, but if it wasn’t for your daddy, would you be a COO in the NFL? Did you want the job? Did you earn it? Stephen Jones had no right to say that to Micah Parsons, respectfully, I respect Stephen Jones, but that was crossing the line.”
This might be the first time we agree with Stephen A. Smith because Jones’ comments serve no purpose at all other than keeping the Cowboys in the headlines, creating confusion among the fanbase and possibly the locker room.
But the marketing side is booming, so everything is good, right?
Our own Mike Fisher coined the term “sometimes the Cowboys seem like a marketing company that plays football on the side,” and this Parsons contract saga validates that.
Football used to be the main thing, but making headlines and being the topic of every sports talk show has now taken precedence.
And it has for a while.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 28, 2025, where it first appeared.