When Monday began the Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders were the last teams remaining with players in contentious contract holdouts/situations (unless you count the Cam Heyward situation). Before dinner time struck, the Commanders gave Terry McLaurin a long-term extension and the Bengals re-worked Trey Hendrickson’s deal.
It is the latter that is of more relevance to Dallas.
Hendrickson is a pass rusher like Micah Parsons and while he (Trey) led the league in sacks last year, it is pretty objectively agreed-upon that Parsons is going to get a much more sizable deal. Age is one of the biggest factors there.
You can see that the Bengals “boosted” Hendrickson’s salary to $30M this season and he is still set to hit free agency in 2026. This was a situation where both sides seemed to meet in the middle which proves that it can be done.
Truth be told, the Hendrickson deal was always unlikely to provide a financial framework for Parsons as they are not exactly apples to apples as far as situations. But with the Hendrickson deal taken care of in addition to McLaurin, attention is squarely fixed on the Cowboys.
