Did The Cowboys Win The Micah Parsons Trade?

Money

Jerry Jones loves money almost as much as he loves “Jerrah,” with publicity a distant third.

The Packers immediately signed Parsons to a record-setting contract for a non-quarterback: four-years, $188 million dollars with $136 million guaranteed. His $47 million dollar average salary is the highest ever. A rapid about face for a historically frugal organization that could make Packers fans OD on cheese.

As we’ve seen in each of the last two seasons with Dak Prescott and CDC Lamb, Jerry loves to talk about paying his studs. Then waiting and paying over market value for said studs.

Which made me remember/laugh about Jerry’s infamous quote regarding Ezekiel Elliot “spanking himself.”

While it seemed like something would get sorted out during a very public and messy feud, Jerrah The GM pulled the trigger on dumping Parsons.

The Cowboys got the absolute most out of his rookie contract. A four-year, fully guaranteed deal worth $17,079,793.

Injuries & Effectiveness

By all metrics, Micah Parsons has potentially entered the downside of his career. How much better could he be in year 5 and beyond?

Specifically for the position of linebacker that absorbs punishment on every play, akin to the running back on the offensive side of the ball. And we see how the market treats them.

Dallas has been bad at stopping the run.

Over the last four years – Parsons first four years in the league – the Cowboys finished 18th or worse in rushing yards allowed per game each season:

2024: 29th
2023: 18th
2022: 22nd
2021: 20th

In 2024 he played a career low 13 games. Parsons sat out all of the 2025 training camp and the preseason with back stiffness.

There’s also no clear indication he was going to be ready to play opening day thanks to the back injury which he recently received a second opinion on. The initial MRI “came back clean.”

Players Received

Two first rounders and a space eating defensive tackle, three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark. The value of two first rounders speaks for itself.

Shoring up defensive tackle is the first step in building run defense. Linebackers are easier to find. A quality defensive tackle is not.

“I really like Micah,” Jones said. “I appreciate the four years we had him here. He’s a great player. No question, I could have signed him in April. … This was by design. I did make Micah an offer and it wasn’t acceptable, and I honored the fact that it wasn’t done how he wanted — through an agent.”

Jerry even compared the trade to “The Great Trade Robbery” of Herschel Walker to the Vikings in 1989.

“But Micah Parsons did an outstanding job for us for four years and a little bit of the way Herschel Walker may have had his greatest contribution to the Cowboys, what he brought to us when he left could be a tremendous thing for our fans and the success of this team.”

Conclusion

Just like the Luka Doncic trade, on its face, the Micah Parsons trade has an enormous WOW factor.

But when you dig in and get past the hype of the names involved, a year from now we could be singing the praises of the billionaire oil tycoon from Dallas.

Or, he did this to hype up viewership of the recent Dallas Cowboys Netflix special.