The Eagles’ NFC East rivals still have huge lingering contract issues as training camp approaches

It’s not ideal to be heading into training camp without your star players, but Washington and Dallas are facing that possibility.

Offseason contract negotiations aren’t always smooth, not even if you have Howie Roseman as your general manager, but two NFC East teams — not named the Philadelphia Eagles — are facing huge hurdles as they try to re-sign their biggest stars.

Washington Commanders WR Terry McLaurin

The Commanders have admittedly made fewer bad decisions since Dan Snyder left town, but sometimes it’s nice to see not everything has changed in Washington. As mandatory minicamp came and went, Terry McLaurin was notably absent in an effort to send a message to the team about his contract.

As the offseason continues on, a new report by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler suggests McLaurin is still not happy with where things stand in terms of getting an extension done. Both sides have a few weeks left to get something done before training camp begins, or Washington risks their veteran WR sitting out.

McLaurin is a team and fan favorite, is a huge help for a young QB, and is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL — a feat he’s accomplished with some pretty trash QBs over the years. The Commanders would be wise to pay McLaurin before he misses any more time away from the team, but we all know they don’t always make the smart decisions.

Micah Parsons

As for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, they’ve had years to sign Micah Parsons to a new deal, and yet they’ve pushed things to the last minute and have made mistake-after-mistake in their handling of the situation — which should be a surprise to no one.

If the Cowboys would have re-signed Parsons last year, they wouldn’t have to top Myles Garrett new deal (4 years, $160 million with $132 million guaranteed), and Parsons has even expressed surprise that Jones would let the price keep going up. Jones might be waiting to see what happens with T.J. Watt or Trey Hendrickson, but if he was a smart man, he’d get a deal done with Parsons before any other market-setters agree to terms.

Jones tried to circumvent Parson’s agent earlier in the offseason, but the edge defender refused to make a deal without their input. It’s been a lot of Jerry Jones saying things to reporters and Micah Parsons addressing it online, with not much movement between the two to actually get a deal done.

Unlike McLaurin, however, Parsons attended offseason activities but stopped short of revealing whether he would show up to training camp without a new deal.