MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Dallas, TX

FRISCO, Texas - In two seasons, Micah Parsons has unanimously won Defensive Rookie of the Year, earned two All-Pros and two Pro Bowl selections and was the runner-up to Defensive Player of the Year last season.

But if anything has become abundantly clear with Parsons it's that he is simply neversatisfied with the end result.

Such is the case, he's been fairly active this offseason to add muscle and bulk, up to 250 pounds, compared to his playing weight last season from 245 lbs., but he's also gotten in the ear of former offensive linemen like Andrew Whitworth and Brian Baldinger to get a sense of how the opposition might attack someone of his status to get yet another edge.

"I'm really trying to get in the mind [of the] offense," Parsons said. "When I'm going against top guys like Andrew Thomas, Trent Williams, and these guys that I'm going to face in this NFC class and Lane Johnson, how are these guys playing me? What am I struggling with? I can't learn that from anyone else in the league. I have to learn that from a guy who has shut down guys like me before."

Parsons is coming off a very strong second year in Dallas with a career high 13.5 sacks and 65 tackles, though the majority of those sacks came early on in the year before tapering off towards the backend of the year, something that he admitted was in part because of how long the season was.

"I would just really say I was going through the motions," Parsons said. "It was a really long year. Every week something new was coming up. It was really just the growing pains of playing a lot more defensive end and dealing with chips and not really having a plan and guys throwing me off my game.

"Smooth is fast. And don't be fast. Be smooth, man. Sometimes you feel like you have to do more to win. And you just have to be smooth. You see track runners look like they're not moving and they're smooth… So, this year I'm just focusing on being smooth and just durability and taking care of my body."

One of Parsons most valuable skill sets since he entered the league in 2021 has been his ability to be a roving chess piece for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn by splitting time at both linebacker and on the defensive line. Last season his snap count as a defensive end nearly doubled and by his own admission wore him down to a degree.

By the sound of it on Thursday afternoon following the Cowboys OTAs, Parsons could be in line to get back to being on the move more in 2023, much to the chagrin of offensive linemen across the NFL.

"I think that's a special ability that I have and why I want to incorporate it," Parsons said on moving around more. "We're doing a lot of special things and I don't want to give a lot away right now. But it's going to be a really cool year, I'm probably going to play like eight positions this year."

He's half kidding, maybe. But Parsons did joke that there is a jumbo package to be had for him on offense, while also saying that anything in the front seven or requires coverage is on the table for him, making him that much more menacing for opposing offenses.

And despite making a name for himself as one of the premier pass rushers in the league over the last two seasons, Parsons said he has little interest in chasing a sack title this upcoming year. Instead, his offseason has been about finding ways to affect the game on every plan by any means necessary.

"I'm kind of off the sack wave," Parsons said. "I'm more on the impact wave. You see Aaron Donald and he could have 12 sacks but the impact he makes is so dominant. And you see guys who have 16 or 17 sacks, but they're not considered a 'guy.' I want to be a guy,not one of the guys.

"If you're always chasing then you're never achieving. I'm not chasing for something - I'm trying to achieve."

In a huge win for the pollution-plagued residents of Joppa, Austin Bridge and Road will permanently close its asphalt batch plant in this predominantly Black community 6 miles southeast of downtown Dallas.

The company will cease all operations June 26 and begin removing equipment from the site, president Richard Mills told me Thursday in a preview of the official announcement.

City Council member Adam Bazaldua, who secured the deal, called it a pivotal moment that makes clear Dallas’ intentions on environmental injustices and climate change.

“It also is direct action to right a wrong of the past that has disproportionately impacted our Black and brown communities,” Bazaldua said.

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Bazaldua and Mills reached their agreement amid my asking a lot of questions in recent days about the controversial plant.

The statement Mills later shared with me also specifies that the plant’s closure suspends the automatic permit-renewal process the company began in February.

“Since 2009, we have worked in good faith to be good community partners,” Mills said in the statement, pointing to funding and support for local projects and programs.

“But as city officials have long been aware,” he said, “it was never our intention to continue long-term operations at this facility.”

While the company, part of Dallas-based Austin Industries and a provider of construction materials for the city and county, looks for a new site, it will source products from elsewhere to ensure work is not disrupted.

Related:How Joppy Momma’s Farm is undoing generations of chronic illness in a Dallas neighborhood

I had begun reporting on this topic — a sorry mess that only a few days ago mostly resembled a dung heap — in anticipation of the upcoming City Plan Commission permit-renewal hearing.

Something about the prevailing narrative, a story line pushed by the loudest voices, didn’t add up.

Reckoning with Joppa is especially difficult because various factions and their leaders try to speak for the community rather than advocate for it.

Differences in opinion turn into blood feuds. Personal vendettas spring up everywhere.

According to the Joppa Environmental Health Project and its godfather, Downwinders at Risk, Bazaldua had forsaken his constituents to cozy up to polluters.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Council environment committee chair Paula Blackmon, who was in some of the most recent discussions with Austin Bridge and Road, told me “listening, then listening some more” was the key.

“This is another example of when folks work together,” she said, “whether it’s the industry, the city, the council members, change can happen.”

Related:Dallas tackles environmental concerns: 40 air monitors by end of 2023

Before I tell you how this agreement was forged, let’s focus on what’s more important: The plant’s closure will improve the health and quality of life for Joppa residents, especially its many children who suffer from asthma.

My colleague Mark Lamster detailed this community’s exploitation in a special project three years ago. Among the grim facts he reported: Sitting adjacent to industrial facilities, Joppa is one of the most polluted neighborhoods in Dallas.

According to a UT Southwestern Medical Center study of data from 2005 to 2014, average life expectancy in the Joppa ZIP code is under 71. In affluent and largely white Highland Park, it is 84.

Joppa residents’ complaints about the sulfuric stink and pollutant grit from the Austin Bridge and Road asphalt plant have long been part of a citizens’ chorus that grows louder each time one pops up in the city.

This City Council, the most environmentally friendly in Dallas history, responded last year with a new message to industry:

Concrete and asphalt is necessary, but no resident should have to live alongside the chemical- and particulate-spewing plants that produce them.

Council members in May 2022 approved new rules for concrete and asphalt batch plants designed to ensure environmentally just outcomes for residents. The extra vetting allows citizens to air concerns about proximity to homes, schools and places of worship.

Bazaldua recognized the consensus within Joppa that quality of life had been compromised in ways that would never have been accepted in other parts of the city.

Related:Dallas tackles environmental concerns: 40 air monitors by end of 2023

Knowing the Austin Bridge and Road operating permit was up for renewal this year, he arranged an informal meeting in April 2022 with Eric Schranz, the company’s general manager of plants.

Bazaldua entered the room planning to tell Schranz he wouldn’t support renewal, but the Austin Bridge and Road team surprised him with the news “their time had come at this location.”

“They could see the tide turning at City Hall,” Bazaldua recalled. “They also wanted to be good neighbors.”

Bazaldua put them in touch with City Hall departments that might have relocation suggestions. He also began quietly telling residents and advocacy groups, including the Joppa Environmental Health Project and Downwinders, the good news.

“I thought everyone, Austin Industries, the advocates, the community, was on the same page,” Bazaldua told me.

Fast forward to February when the company, in an apparent change of plans, filed permit-renewal paperwork.

No one was more surprised than Bazaldua, but he had been holding back another card in the event it was needed.

He and the city’s planning staff had determined the site failed to comply with several requirements, including number of trees, fencing height and density, and outdoor storage specifications.

If Austin Bridge and Road didn’t correct those problems within 21 days, a hearing before the City Plan Commission would be required, greatly diminishing any chance for a permit renewal.

Perhaps as important to the eventual closure news was a key detail Bazaldua was unaware of — something I turned up in an interview with Lee Kleinman of Masterplan, which was charged with filing the plant’s February paperwork.

Kleinman, a former City Council member, told me Masterplan filed the documents “as a placeholder” in the event Austin Bridge and Road couldn’t meet its commitment to get out.

As Mills confirmed in our phone call Thursday, his company for the last 18 months had been accelerating its plans to move.

Weeks of misunderstandings and mistruths multiplied after that filing.

Kleinman acknowledged the MasterPlan staffers working on what seemed like standard paperwork should have been aware of the political climate in Joppa.

“You just don’t make any move regarding Joppa without letting somebody know,” he said. Nor did Austin Bridge and Road or MasterPlan give Bazaldua a prior heads-up about the reason for the February filing.

“It definitely created some blowback for Bazaldua. Especially in the middle of an election, that didn’t help either,” Kleinman said.

Blowback is an understatement, although Bazaldua hung on to his council seat with 52% of the vote.

Related:A bird-watching hike through Goat Island Preserve, Dallas County’s wildest green space

Bazaldua says he tried to update residents and advocacy groups about his “out of compliance” strategy. He avoided public statements and written communications in order to not tip his hand.

As soon as the 21-day mark passed, with none of the site improvements made, Bazaldua did his best in an April 24 news release to explain matters.

For some factions, it was too late. That includes Downwinders at Risk, for decades the most aggressive environmental group in North Texas and involved in Joppa since 2018.

In early April, Downwinders director Jim Schermbeck described Bazaldua on Facebook as a “‘Progressive” hypocrite,’ who goes to Austin and D.C. to talk up his liberal credentials but then doesn’t lift a finger to help his own constituents in Dallas’ most over-polluted neighborhood.”

Alecia Kendrick, the leader of the Joppa Environmental Health Project and a staff member of Downwinders, also remained critical when we talked Wednesday.

Bazaldua stopped at her house while campaigning in April to try, according to him, to explain his plan and why he couldn’t yet put it in writing.

Kendrick told me repeatedly Bazaldua’s demeanor that day was hostile and left her feeling “we are fighting against the city and the batch plant.”

With Kendrick’s group at Joppa’s New Zion Missionary Baptist Church every Saturday to educate residents on environmental and health issues, it would be great if she and Bazaldua could get beyond their differences.

Telling people in Joppa “to just sit tight, everything is going to be OK” wasn’t enough. Calling Austin Bridge and Road to get answers as soon as the February paperwork was filed would have strengthened Bazaldua’s arguments.

The players got to the right place in the end. Everyone can at least agree this is a big victory for the people who call Joppa home.

FRISCO, Texas —From front office personnel down to coaches and players, everyone in the building is champing at the bit to start going full speed for the Dallas Cowboys, but that won't and can't happen until training camp arrives in late July; and that's something rookies like first-round pick Mazi Smith are working to adapt to.

Smith was effectively ready to put on the pads and start hitting other humans the moment he touched down in Dallas, if not on the flight over from Michigan.

"Let's get to work, please," he said while walking through The Star in Frisco for the first time this past April. "I'm ready to hit somebody in their face. I'm not playing."

He was smiling but, as he noted, he was not kidding around.

But while he won't get his wish in OTAs and minicamp, he already has the coaching staff buzzing about his hunger to get going … and his potential to do multiple things.

"For a guy like Mazi, you can't wait to see him in pads," said head coach Mike McCarthy as OTAs concluded. "He's ready to show everybody what he can do in pads."

McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn are just as excited to explore his potential versatility across the defensive line — the definitive run-stopper who they feel has untapped abilities in the pass rush as well.

"We said this during the evaluation process: we feel there's a lot more pass rush potential in his body than based on the opportunities he has shown in his college career," McCarthy added. "So, I love the program he came from and the way he's wired and physically, but his emotional connection and so forth. He's off to a good start."

It's safe to say no one on the offensive line or on the offensive coaching staff is taking Smith lightly, because though there is no full contact as of yet, the first week of OTAs saw the former Wolverine taking reps with the first team and drawing double teams almost immediately.

If we're being honest, that's likely only making Smith that much more starved to begin putting his metahuman strength and motor to good use.

Soon enough, he'll get his wish.

The Dallas Cowboys have been one of the best defenses in the NFL over the last two years. In a rare feat, Dan Quinn’s troops have led the league in forced turnovers in back-to-back seasons.

Part of Dallas’ ability to get takeaways at such a high rate is because they’ve had a strong group of cornerbacks who take advantage when the ball hits their hands. It’s a position that’s gotten even better with the addition of veteran CB Stephon Gilmore, who gives the Cowboys one of the best tandems in the league, along with Trevon Diggs.

Dallas’ dynamic duo stands tall among the rest. Pro Football Focus ranks both starting corners for the Cowboys inside the top 10 in their rankings of the top 32 cornerbacks ahead of the 2023 season. There are other teams who have a pair of CBs on the list, but no other team has two in the top 10.

Stephon Gilmore (6th)

In a strange twist, the site ranked Gilmore ahead of his new teammate. The Cowboys traded for Gilmore to give Diggs the best CB across from him since he was drafted in 2020.

Here’s what PFF had to say about Gilmore:

6. STEPHON GILMORE, DALLAS COWBOYS

There was a stretch where Gilmore was the best cornerback in football, and while that may be in the past now, he showed in each of his past two stops that he can still play at a very high level. For the Colts, Gilmore recorded an 81.1 PFF coverage grade and allowed an 82.6 passer rating from 82 targets. He now gets the benefit of playing opposite Trevon Diggs in Dallas in 2023.

After two injury-riddled seasons, Gilmore returned to form last year with the Colts. The veteran CB had two interceptions and 11 passes defensed on his way to becoming one of the top corners in the league again while playing in at least 16 games for the first time since 2019.

In 11 seasons, Gilmore has 29 interceptions and at least two picks in nine of his last 10 seasons. If he stays on the field, he’ll get a chance to beat his career-high of six interceptions playing across from Diggs.

Trevon Diggs (8th)

The league’s top ballhawk comes in at No. 8 on the list. In his first three years in NFL, Diggs is tied for the lead in interceptions with 17 over that span. After his ridiculous sophomore season where he had 11 interceptions, Diggs had just three in 2022, which matched his rookie year number. However, Diggs remains one of the most dangerous CBs for quarterbacks to test.

8. TREVON DIGGS, DALLAS COWBOYS

Diggs didn’t have the same gaudy interception stats in 2022 as he did the year before, but he was a better overall player. Over the past two seasons, he has given up some big plays but is a ballhawk and a dangerous cornerback to test. His play may see a boost this season with Stephon Gilmore on the other side keeping defenses honest.

Having Gilmore across from him should mean Diggs will be thrown at more heading into his contract year, which could mean he’ll see his interception total rise again. Aside from the turnovers, Diggs’ play gets better as he continues to learn the position, and he gets beat less frequently.

Diggs’ best play could be coming with Gilmore on the opposite side and a new contract on the line.

Complete Top 10

FRISCO, Texas -- Now that it’s June 2, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves flush with salary cap space.

They have more than $21 million, according to NFL Players Association figures. They had $10.9 million before June 1 and added another $10.9 million because of the decision to part ways with Ezekiel Elliott earlier in the offseason.

The Cowboys can go fulfill any desire they want to make their strong roster even stronger, with wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, recently cut by the Arizona Cardinals, at the top of the list. If the Cowboys had not traded for Brandin Cooks at the start of the offseason, maybe there would be more urgency to add a receiver like Hopkins.

But hold on. This isn’t like finding that extra $20 in a pair of pants that was buried in the back of the closet.

First, let’s revisit how the Cowboys got the $10.9 million boon.

On March 15, they released Elliott, designating him a post-June 1 cut. Instead of counting $16.72 million against the cap, Elliott will count $5.82 million against the cap this year and roughly $6 million against the cap next year.

Second, most of the cap space is already accounted for or at least loosely accounted for. Although, yes, teams can make nearly anything happen regarding the cap if they choose.

Let’s take a look at where most of the money will or could go:

Practice squad, injury settlements and in-season elevations

There isn’t a hard number that can be put on paper, but teams keep a surplus of cap space just for these purposes. Figure that to be around $8 million to $10 million with the weekly elevations from the practice squad to the active roster accounting for most of the money. A player on the practice squad makes anywhere from $16,100 to $20,600. If a rookie gets called up from the practice squad to the active roster, he would make a little more than $44,000 for the week.

Those small differences add up over a 17-game season.

End-of-season incentives

Tyron Smith is set to make $6 million this season between bonus and base salary. Through play-time incentives, he can earn another $9 million. He can earn an extra $2 million if the Cowboys win the Super Bowl and he plays in at least 75% of the regular-season snaps and 51% of the snaps in each playoff round.

That money has to be accounted for somewhere.

As does the money tied up with other players in terms of per-game roster bonuses that might not count fully against the cap at the moment but would as the season goes along.

Extensions for CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, Terence Steele

Why isn’t Dak Prescott's name on this list? Because the quarterback's cap number would likely go down some based on the structure of a new deal.

That might not be the case for Lamb, Diggs or Steele. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the team wants to get back into the habit of signing players entering their contract years.

Extensions for all three would likely raise their 2023 cap numbers ($4.457 million for Lamb, $4.847 million for Diggs, $4.304 million for Steele) based on the structure of the deal.

The Cowboys have Lamb under contract through 2024 with the fifth-year option at $17.99 million but would like to get their two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver signed long term. For that to happen, he is likely looking at a contract that would average around $24 million a year, if not more. There are seven wide receivers making at least $24 million a season.

Diggs has been named to each of the past two Pro Bowls as well. The cornerback is looking at a deal that could be in the range of $20 million a year, if not more.

Steele is coming back from a serious knee injury, but the Cowboys are confident he will be able to find the form that made him one of the better young right tackles. He is playing this season on the second-round tender as a restricted free agent.

Shorter-length deals lead to higher salary cap figures in the early years. However, the Cowboys could look to stagger those deals from a cash-flow perspective, especially when considering an extension for Prescott down the road or even Micah Parsons as soon as next offseason.

The Cowboys have the room to add a player like Hopkins if they want, but so far it doesn’t look like they want to. It’s as if they know $21 million doesn’t go as far as it used to.