Money
Jerry Jones loves money almost as much as he loves “Jerrah,” with advertising coming in a distant third.
The Packers immediately signed Parsons to a record contract for a non-quarterback: four years, $188 million with $136 million guaranteed. His average salary of $47 million is the highest in history. A quick about-face for a historically frugal organization that could make Packers fans go crazy for 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 wait and pay more than the market value for said amounts.
Which made me remember/laugh at Jerry’s infamous quote about Ezekiel Elliot “whips himself.”
While it seemed like something would be resolved during a very public and messy feud, Jerrah The GM pulled the trigger on getting rid of Parsons.
The Cowboys made the most of his rookie contract. A fully guaranteed four-year deal worth $17,079,793.
Injuries and effectiveness
By all indicators, Micah Parsons has potentially entered the downside of his career. How much better could it be in year 5 and beyond?
Specifically for the linebacker position that absorbs punishment on every play, similar 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.
In 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: 29
2023: 18
2022: 22
2021: 20
In 2024 he played 13 games, the lowest of his career. Parsons missed all of 2025 training camp and the preseason with back stiffness.
There’s also no clear indication he’d be ready to play on Opening Day thanks to the back injury 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.
Strengthening the defensive tackle is the first step in building a 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. There’s no question, I could have signed him in April… This was intentional. I made an offer to Micah and it wasn’t acceptable, and I honored the fact that it wasn’t done the way he wanted: through an agent.”
Jerry even compared the trade to Herschel Walker’s “Great Trade Robbery” with the Vikings in 1989.
“But Micah Parsons did an outstanding job for us for four years and, in a 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
Like the Luka Doncic trade, at first glance, the Micah Parsons trade has a huge wow factor.
But when you dig deeper and get past the hype of the names involved, a year from now we could be singing the praises of the billionaire oil magnate from Dallas.
Or he did this to increase viewership for the recent Dallas Cowboys Netflix special.
