Dallas Cowboys star edge rusher Micah Parsons has never been one to keep his opinions to himself.
Heading into the offseason after yet another solid regular season but unsuccessful playoff run, he knows what the Cowboys need to do to shore up their 2024 roster.
Parsons, who spoke on "The Stephen A. Smith Show" during the NBA All-Star weekend, said more muscle on the defensive side of the ball is needed immediately.
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"I said look at every team that was in that final four," Parson said, referencing the final four teams of the NFL playoffs. "Who did they have? Who did Baltimore have? A great linebacking corps, right? Who did San Fran have? Great linebacking corps. K.C., [Nick] Bolton, and they came along. We need to get another bigger linebacker."
Parsons also believes a "nasty interior" lineman after watching what Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones and Mike Pennel did during the Super Bowl.
"I think we’ve got a lot of rushers," Parsons said about his current teammates on the defensive line. "I think Osa [Odighizuwa], he can play inside, outside, one of the most versatile DTs. When we [got Johnathan] Hank[ins], he’s a big dude, but we need to get one of them big old, nasty, pass-rushing, get-going [guys]."
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But Parsons isn’t biased to the defensive side of the ball – at least not all the time. He believes the offense needs to make one move in particular: Keep running back Tony Pollard.
"I would say toward the end of the season, Tony Pollard was catching his rhythm again," Parsons said. "I do think he's an every-down guy. You've got to think: He broke his fibula, tibia, something, that's a catastrophic injury. You're talking about a guy that's really been off from that [since] January, came back Week 1, but he didn't really do a lot. It takes a while to get back into football. He didn't do OTAs. He didn't do minicamp. He kind of did camp a little bit, like working through it, getting back into it."
"You saw him increase, like he even said, 'I'm just now getting back to myself.' I would give Tony Pollard another shot."
Pollard could be franchise-tagged again by Dallas this offseason, if they choose.
But the Cowboys also have contract situations with quarterback Dak Prescott, who will play the final year of his deal in 2024, as well as star receiver CeeDee Lamb, who could be looking for a new deal soon as well.
There’s also Parsons, who could cash in this offseason if Dallas is willing to extend him after three seasons. His production has proved him to be one of the best young edge rushers in the game, but the Cowboys need to be smart with their money in 2024 first.
"If they call my number and say, 'Hey, we ready,' we're ready. But if not, I'm going to put [together] another Pro Bowl year," Parsons said. "It only gets more expensive."
The Cowboys have many roster decisions to make for next season and beyond if they wish to have similar regular-season success, and more importantly, get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995.
