The Dallas Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on August 28, a week before the start of the 2025 season.

ESPN (external link) reported that their haul for trading Parsons, in addition to receiving Green Bay’s next two 1st-round draft picks, was defensive lineman Kenny Clark.

In comments to The Athletic (external link), Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said that this trade “[gave] them a better chance to be a better team” than what they had recently done.

Seriously, They Traded Micah Parsons?

Okay, now that the serious news reporting is out of the way, I would not want to be a Cowboys fan today. (This is a New York-centric website, so I’m not sure I would want to be at any time, but especially not today.) There is no amount of lipstick Jerry Jones can slap on this pig. Any Cowboys and Mavericks fans are probably having a bad case of déjà vu today.

For one thing, the contract dispute was public, which is never a great sign. Then, and I want to stress this, the Cowboys traded away their best player. This is not to say they did not get a haul for him, because they did get a Pro Bowler and some high picks, but again, best player. In Jerry’s fantasy land, he thinks that landing Clark will help them stop the run more effectively. Clark is a solid guy to have on the defensive front, but you know who else was? Micah Parsons, your former best player.

I’m not sure what’s worse: That Jones traded away their young star, or that he thinks the people who listened to his press conference are going to buy what he said about improving the team. (He also called Parsons “Michael” more than once; just throwing that out there.)

As for Everyone Else’s Reactions

Other NFC East teams are going to be happy that they no longer have to face Parsons twice a year. NFC North teams might be decidedly less enthusiastic.

Green Bay jumped in the Super Bowl odds on Thursday as the news broke. They paid a handsome sum to lock him down, but he is going to make an instant impact for the Packers. Green Bay was already a contender, and this cements it.