NFL rules on Micah Parsons fifth-year option made positional specification out of Cowboys control
The designation of Micah Parsons as a defensive end relative to his fifth-year option was not a decision made by the Dallas Cowboys.
On Tuesday evening, it was reported the Dallas Cowboys were exercising the fifth-year option for pass rusher Micah Parsons. On a macro level this did not seem like a big deal, more of a formality than anything.
If anything the fifth-year option is a glorified placeholder for Parsons as he is in all likelihood going to have a record-setting extension before he steps on the field again for the team. Still though, when news of the option being picked up emerged there was a detail that caught everyone’s attention - the position classification for Parsons.
You may be thinking that Dallas designated Parsons as a linebacker and not as a defensive end and that this cost him some sort of money. That would be an incorrect assumption.
Dallas designated Parsons as a defensive end as opposed to a linebacker and interestingly the difference cost him $2.7M (you can thank all of the outside pass-rushing linebackers who are not listed as defensive ends that have inflated the salaries of the “linebacker” group). One would have thought that Dallas would have done what they could to give Parsons the most money possible, and since they did not, there were people wondering if the team did what they could to save a bit of money.
Thankfully we finally have clarity.
The positional designation situation and the salary related to them were matters that the Dallas Cowboys did not control
If I may I would like to shout out the incomparable Dave Halprin for suggesting this idea when he and I were chatting about it on Tuesday evening.
Parsons has hit an escalator with regards to his fifth-year option having been named to the Pro Bowl at least twice by this point in his career (he has obviously been named every year). This means that his option year value (for his 2025 season) is equivalent to the current franchise tag value for the position that he plays (the tag value in our moment of 2024).
Where things take on a positional importance is once we get through the franchise tag value lens. You see, franchise tag values are determined based on the position where a player played the majority of snaps in the season prior. For Parsons, this is obviously at defensive end. ESPN’s Todd Archer was the first member of the local beat who summed up the all of how we got here in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon.
Regarding fifth-year options, the tender offer is determined by the CBA, not a team choice to pick the position if a player is used at multiple spots.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) March 6, 2024
From the CBA: pic.twitter.com/3V1rnbCRkP
It goes without saying that had the Cowboys made a conscious choice to cut Parsons out of an extra $2.7M that would have been an interesting choice to say the least. Thankfully that is not the case.
Whenever the Cowboys and Parsons agree to an extension it stands to reason that they will find a way to make up for this $2.7M. When exactly will that be, though?
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