The Dallas Cowboys begin OTAs on Tuesday without two of their biggest stars – CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons. Though it was expected that Lamb wouldn’t turn up at the Star given his contract situation, there was hope that Parsons would return to the team after skipping the voluntary offseason training program. Alas, the wait continues.
The former Penn State star is entering the fourth year of his contract with the Cowboys. The team has already exercised the fifth-year option in his rookie contract, but fans are hoping Dallas gets a long-term deal done with him soon to avoid a holdout situation. Though the workouts and OTAs are voluntary, the team’s minicamp from June 4 through June 6 is mandatory and his absence would, at that point, result in fines.
On top of working out privately and taking an overseas trip to China and Japan with C.J. Stroud, Parsons has also recently signed deals with adidas and Bleacher Report. The first-rounder is now the president of Bleacher Report’s Gridiron team.
Mike Zimmer excited to work with ‘dynamic’ Parsons
The prospect of directing Micah Parsons around the football field would excite any defensive coach and new Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is no different. Zimmer is taking the reins of the Dallas defense this season, and with it, the man who has accumulated 40.5 regular-season sacks in three seasons.
This week, the Cowboys assistant opened up about Parsons and his special set of skills. Despite his dominance, Zimmer understands the trick to making Parsons the most effective edge rusher he can be is how he moves him around and the matchups he creates week to week.
“We were sitting up there again this morning talking about other things we can do with him,” Zimmer said Tuesday. “He’s such a dynamic player that, I said this the other day: ‘Offenses are always going to know where he’s at.’ They’re going to turn protections to him, have the back help chip no matter what it is.
“In a lot of the games he played last year that I watched, the offenses had a good scheme where they get two tight ends on him and all those things. So, we’re going to obviously move him around, do different things with him, but we’re going to use him some ways where we’re getting the protection turned the way we want it turned and able to win on the other side. Sometimes, we’re going to try to overload a protection where he gets a one-on-one.”
After beginning his career primarily as a linebacker, Parsons has dramatically shifted his position over the last two seasons. He now plays the majority of his snaps on the defensive line. It doesn’t sound like that’s going to change much in 2024.
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