The drama between the Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons is officially over. With the 2025 season approaching, Jerry Jones finally pulled the trigger, sending his star pass rusher to the Green Bay Packers.
In return, the Cowboys will receive two first-round picks over the next two years, along with veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Even though Cowboys legend Michael Irvin insisted Jones would never trade Parsons just before it happened, the reality is he did — and, unsurprisingly, he’s being vilified for it now. The fact that it was to the Packers only makes the optics worse.
“No team has been a bigger thorn in Jerry Jones’ side over the last 15 years than the Packers,” The Athletic’s Jon Machota wrote. “Ended the Cowboys’ seasons in 2014, 2016, 2023. Dallas’ best shots at making a deep postseason run. And now Jones sends them the Cowboys’ best player. This could either end up being the Herschel Walker trade for the Cowboys or the Charles Haley trade for the 49ers.”
When Jones purchased the Cowboys in 1989, he quickly showed his aggressiveness by trading away the team’s best player in Herschel Walker. The move proved to be franchise-altering, netting Dallas five players and six draft picks. Those selections became the foundation of a roster that went on to win three Super Bowls in the 1990s.
“[The Cowboys] not only [have] four first-round picks over the next two years… Nothing says we can’t use some of those picks right now to go get somebody right now. Don’t rule that out,” Jones said.
The Charles Haley trade, meanwhile, worked out for Dallas but more or less ended the 49ers’ dynasty. Then-head coach George Seifert even called it a “bad move.”
It had become clear Parsons and the Cowboys had reached an impasse, past the point of no return. Either way, there was going to be a cost — whether it was keeping him or moving him. Now, the question is whether this gamble will reshape Dallas’ future or come back to haunt them.
