In the NFL, when it comes to negotiations for the best players on the biggest contracts with the highest stakes, it’s not overstating things to say those types of deals can turn into out-and-out warfare.
Nowhere has that been more evident than in the contemptuous relationship between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and NFL super agent David Mulugheta over the last few years.
Now, between 2 of the most powerful figures, there might be a thaw to the relationship that turned icy over the contract negotiations for former Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons, which ended with Parsons traded to the Green Bay Packers.
And it couldn’t come at a more opportune time for both sides.
“Sources: The Cowboys extended an olive branch to agent David Mulugheta of Athletes First, as owner Jerry Jones and COO Stephen Jones called him with both on the phone to discuss franchise-tagged WR George Pickens’ future,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account on Thursday. “The call was professional and cordial.”
Professional and cordial is a step in the right direction, because that hasn’t always been the status quo for Jones and Mulugheta when they interact.
Mulugheta: Jones ‘Lied’ About Parsons Negotiations
Mulugheta went on ESPN’s “First Take” on September 2 — less than one week after Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers — and hit back at claims by the Cowboys and Jones that a deal had been negotiated and agreed to separate from Mulugheta — and that it was Mulugheta who reneged on the deal.
“Micah got a call from Jerry’s assistant that he was being asked to come in and talk about leadership (with Jones),” Mulugheta said. “So the meeting was represented to Micah that it was going to be a talk about leadership that turned into a talk about his contract. So there’s a 25-year-old sitting in a room with his boss, the most powerful man in the NFL, who is telling him he wants to talk about his contract so he’s sitting there and nodding because what’s he supposed to do? There’s a power dynamic there that also needs to be addressed … but at no point did Micah believe he was negotiating a contract.”
Cowboys Said Mulugheta Used Abusive Language
The Cowboys and Jones, who also serves as his team’s general manager, have insisted it was Parsons who dictated the terms of the contract and Mulugheta got Parsons to go back on it. Jones even went so far as to say Mulugheta told him and the Cowboys to take their contract offer and “shove it up their ass” — something the agent also disputed.
“At no point in my life have I ever used that term,” Mulugheta said. ” … What I did say was something along the lines of, when they told me they were they were sending me a contract, that if they were just sending it to me to rubber stamp it, they could forget about it.”
Mulugheta also pointed out that due to the increasingly complicated nature of NFL contracts, someone like Parsons wasn’t equipped to understand those complexities.
“(Parsons) doesn’t have a law degree,” Mulugheta said. “His job is to chase quarterbacks. Our jobs is to chase commas.”
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