“Keep doing what you’re doing”

CLEVELAND — On Sunday, Dak Prescott saw his pockets get deeper than a canyon on the surface of Mars. Just hours before the Dallas Cowboys took the field for their season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the All-Pro quarterback signed a historic NFL contract that hit with the force of a meteorite, and not long after CeeDee Lamb also received a contract.

However, the Cowboys’ front office can hardly rest, because a third of the triumvirate still does not have a long-term contract: World-class pass rusher Micah Parsons is overjoyed with the contract that Prescott received.

“Damn, you know what I mean? Dak owed me a little money,” Parsons said with a big grin and a laugh, explaining his reaction when news of Prescott’s numbers came (including $231 million that was fully guaranteed). “So I went to him right before we got here and said, ‘I’ll never be broke,’ and we just laughed.”

The three-time All-Pro then stopped joking and spoke to Cowboys and NFL fans about his quarterback in a much more serious and determined tone.

“He didn’t cheat the game,” Parsons said of Prescott. “He earned everything he got. It’s because of his work, his effort, his skill and everything he put into it. Good things happen when you don’t cheat the game. And I can say he’s been 100 percent since he got here.”

“So when it comes to this guy, he’s not one that doesn’t deserve it.”

As secret as it was kept, Parsons made it clear at the beginning of the offseason that he had no interest in signing his new contract until Prescott and Lamb were taken care of.

Even though those are now complete, Parsons still isn’t changing his own conversation. For him, it’s about eating on the field, and if he continues to do that, as his stellar opening game against the Browns showed, then there’s no reason the Cowboys shouldn’t give him a shiny new plate for himself.

“I just have to keep doing what I’ve been doing,” he said. “Keep working, keep trying to be the best player I can be and win championships, and then they’ll probably throw me a little something on the side.”

Only… it will be anything but little.

He finished last for the Browns with nine pressures (a team-high), a sack and a pass breakup that led to an interception for linebacker Eric Kendricks – and is still not entirely satisfied with his performance.

With this attitude he lands directly in the Brinks truck.