Defensive players don’t usually win MVP awards in the NFL, but could Dallas Cowboys star linebacker Micah Parsons end the drought that started in the mid-1980s? Judy Battista of NFL.com recently published a list of dark horses to win the 2024 NFL MVP and it concludes Parsons, whom she thinks is against big odds to take home the award.
He’s the longest of long shots, because the last time a defensive player won MVP it was 1986, nearly 40 years ago, and the one to do it was Lawrence Taylor, merely the greatest defensive player in history. That’s a pretty high bar to reach, and Parsons is much more likely to secure a Defensive Player of the Year award.
But Parsons is also a star, a disruptive and productive game wrecker on the league’s most high-profile team. In 2023, he had 14 sacks, 18 tackles for a loss, 33 quarterback hits, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. The X-factor for Parsons is how new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer deploys him — if he sets Parsons loose, and the Cowboys are a dominant team, we’ll hear Parsons’ name a lot, and that should at least include a few mentions as an MVP-level player.
Micah Parsons’ importance to the Dallas Cowboys can’t be understated
Parsons is easily one of the best players in the NFL today, and he’s also got a major reason to play great in 2024. He would want the Cowboys to be so impressed by his performance that he forces them to hand him a huge extension deal. For now, the Cowboys have control of Parsons until at least the end of the 2025 NFL season after they picked up their team option on him for that year worth over $21.3 million.
Parsons, who has three First-Team AP All-Pro nods already, has recorded at least 13.0 sacks in each of his first three years in the NFL.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Buffalo Bills signal-caller Josh Allen, and Houston Texans slinger CJ Stroud are among the favorites to win the 2024 NFL MVP.
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