Cowboys expect Micah Parsons to be at offseason workouts

The Cowboys are set to start their offseason workouts next week and they expect to have defensive end Micah Parsons around the team as that work gets underway.

Parsons has not always taken part in voluntary portions of the schedule in the past and his ongoing contract talks raised the possibility that he'd miss time again this year, but head coach Brian Schottenheimer said on Tuesday that Parsons has indicated that he'll be with the team. Schottenheimer said the opportunity for Parsons to take on a bigger leadership role factors into that approach.

"Micah's excited about the opportunity to step up in a leadership role," Schottenheimer said, via Todd Archer of ESPN.com. "There's no reason he shouldn't. The best teams I've ever been around, their best players are their best leaders, and so again, I think the more you're around, the more you have a chance to influence the guys, and not just the guys that are back but there's a bunch of new faces. We've added the free agency group. We're going to add some guys in the draft. That's a part of the puzzle. But I know he's excited about that. I think that's one of the reasons why he will be around."

Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb took a different approach by staying away from the team before signing a new contract last August, but quarterback Dak Prescott was around the team before landing a deal of his own just before the start of the regular season. Parsons was looking for a new deal at that time as well and his status will remain a frequent talking point until it is finally done.