Cowboys have MVP candidate (it's not Dak Prescott), says NFL Insider

The Dallas Cowboys had a runner-up for the Most Valuable Player award during the 2023 season, with quarterback Dak Prescott falling short of Baltimore Ravens signal-caller, Lamar Jackson.

One national columnist believes the Cowboys have another player who could threaten for the award in 2024.

According to NFL.com Senior National Columnist Judy Battista , linebacker Micah Parsons is a dark-horse candidate for MVP. Here's what Battista wrote on Parsons:

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.

While it's nice to think about Parsons winning the award, the chances are slim and none, simply because it's a quarterback award. Parsons would have to post unimaginable production to even have a chance.

The last non-quarterback to be MVP was Minnesota Vikings great Adrian Peterson (2012), and the last defender to earn the honor was New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor (1986).

Parsons is good enough to put up the legendary numbers it would take to buck the trend, but that still might not be enough depending on what the best quarterbacks do, and how the Cowboys perform overall.