In what is easily the most stunning move in recent NFL history, the Green Bay Packers traded for ex-Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons on Thursday afternoon. The four-time Pro Bowl linebacker will join forces with Jordan Love and a talented Packers squad in the NFC North. Meanwhile, Dallas receives two first-round picks and veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
The writing was on the wall the whole time. Parsons made his trade demands clear and was better than most about causing a distraction in training camp. Jerry Jones outright refused to engage with Parsons' agent, which was a mystifying and incredibly petty (read: dumb) strategy. The Cowboys' CEO and GM made things oddly personal to the media and made it clear he did not appreciate Parsons in the way Parsons appreciated Dallas. Green Bay was even floated as a potential landing spot weeks ago.
And yet none of us thought Parsons would actually get traded. Jones has a penchant for milking offseason drama for all it's worth before caving. He did it with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb last summer. For him to actually deliver Parsons to an NFC contender — one that eliminated Dallas from the 2023 playoffs — is a wild twist of fate.
Green Bay paid a hefty price, including a four-year, $188 million contract that makes Parsons the highest paid non-QB in the NFL. But it was well worth it for a durable superstar in the middle of his prime. So worth it, in fact, that these teams will probably come to regret not outbidding Green Bay in the end.
Buffalo Bills
This was always a long shot for the Buffalo Bills, a team short on cap space and draft assets. But at the end of the day, Josh Allen is your quarterback. No team should be more all-out, as Buffalo is still bumping up against the Kansas City roadblock in a competitive AFC. It would've required a lot of maneuvering for the Bills front office, but adding Parsons to that defense meaningfully moves the needle.
Despite Allen's heroics, Buffalo remains at a personnel deficit compared to the likes of Kansas City or Baltimore. Maybe it doesn't matter if Allen can go supernova in the playoffs, but leveling up the defense should be a top priority. Parsons is arguably the greatest edge rusher in the NFL right now. His ability to blow up the line of scrimmage and invade the pocket in unmatched.
Bills fans would rally behind Parsons without hesitation. That is a fanbase committed to hard-nosed, blue collar football, ideals which Parsons perfectly embodies. Parsons grew up in Pennsylvania and spent his college career at Penn State. He might not be used to Buffalo cold, but he's used to frigid temperatures in the winter.
There is a world in which you could argue that Allen and Parsons are the two best players in the NFL. At least the best on their respective sides of the football. Him not ending up in Buffalo was inevitable, but that doesn't make the missed opportunity sting less.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders are loaded with cap space, so the financial aspect of acquiring and extending Parsons was never a challenge. It was all about trade compensation. Las Vegas is in a unique position. After a bad 2024 season, expectations are rather low. But this is an organization that is very deliberately positioning itself as a contender. Geno Smith is the NFL's most underrated quarterback. Pete Carroll is a proven winner and he's about to become the league's oldest head coach of all time. The window is inherently limited as a respect.
Tom Brady, now a minority owner, has significant sway over Las Vegas' front office decision-making. We know he has every intention of building a winner and maximizing his return on investment. The opportunity to kick things up a notch with Parsons, pairing him with Maxx Crosby in Carroll's historically successful scheme, feels like a no-brainer. And yet, the Raiders never made serious noise before Green Bay swept in.
The Raiders probably aren't getting enough recognition in the AFC West. That is a brutal division, and thus it's hard to project a postseason berth outright, but the Raiders' defense was solid under Antonio Pierce before it all fell apart last season. It won't get worse with Carroll calling the shots. As for the offense, Smith has proven that he can lead winning teams under less than ideal circumstances. He should have a better O-line than he did in Seattle, not to mention a talented playmaking corps comprised of Jakobi Meyers, Amari Cooper, Brock Bowers and, last but not least, Ashton Jeanty.
Las Vegas becomes a real lurking threat in the AFC with Parsons. Alas, we'll never know what could have been.
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns might be the worst team in the NFL this season. That shouldn't be the case. There is real talent on that roster, especially on defense. If Parsons isn't the most dominant pass rusher in the NFL, there's an equally strong case for Myles Garrett. Why not double down on a strength and add Parsons?
At the very least, the Browns become a team to watch with Parsons in tow. Baltimore is still going to run away with the division. Pittsburgh is a lock to win nine-plus games under almost any circumstances. But that is far from an unbeatable division and the AFC thins out considerably after the top-tier heavyweights.
Parsons can't do anything to solve the quarterback conundrum, but he arguably transforms Cleveland into the NFL's most intimidating defense — at least up front. The Browns won 11 games with the best defense in the league a couple years ago, lest we forget. The 2024 campaign was a sobering reality check for a deeply flawed roster, but that team isn't as lost in the woods as most folks seem to think. Parsons and Garrett terrorizing opposing quarterbacks would help Cleveland rely less on its shaky offense.
This was a prime opportunity for the Browns to make a statement. All those extra assets from the Travis Hunter trade would have made for one hell of a trade package. Instead, Cleveland remains a mile behind the pack while Parsons heads to a ready-made Super Bowl contender in Green Bay.
Washington Commanders
There's a world in which the Washington Commanders are the best offensive team in the NFL this season. Jayden Daniels has a tall task ahead of him in living up to a dominant rookie campaign, but it feels like he has the goods. It's not hard to imagine a world in which Daniels winds up garnering MVP votes at season's end. His ability to manufacture explosive plays, both with his arm and his legs, while operating with such pristine efficiency is exceedingly rare.
But what about the defense? Washington should be fine, but the Commanders did the least of the NFL contenders to augment their defensive personnel. Dan Quinn is a tremendous defensive coach with a long track record of producing postseason-ready units, so he earns the benefit of the doubt. But if the Commanders are just fine defensively, it becomes harder to imagine them getting over the hump in such a loaded conference. We saw what Philadelphia's offense did to the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
Was Dallas itching to trade Parsons within the division? Probably not, but Jerry Jones is a self-proclaimed drama fiend. He loves to make life harder on himself if it puts eyeballs on the Cowboys. Trading Parsons, who he'd like you to believe is far worse than his résumé suggests, to a division rival sure would have generated spicy headlines.
Of all the NFL contenders, Washington probably needed this the most. Parsons completely elevates the Commanders defense and gives them a strong anchor point to build around next to Daniels long term. A pair of first-round picks and a Pro Bowl tackle was no small price to pay, but it's one the Commanders were plenty capable of matching or exceeding for a bonafide needle-mover.
Philadelphia Eagles
Again, the Cowboys probably didn't want to send Parsons to a division rival, especially not the Philadelphia Eagles. But again, Jones loves to create unnecessary challenges for himself, and there would be no higher mountain to climb than toppling an Eagles team with Parsons lined up on the edge.
Just imagine this Eagles defense, which smothered Kansas City in the Super Bowl after axing the entire NFC gauntlet, with Parsons in the mix. Vic Fangio is one of the best in the business. Philly has ready-made stars all over the defense, from Jalen Carter to Zack Baun to Cooper DeJean. Parsons would've been the day-one headliner.
Parsons grew up in the Philly area and attended college at Penn State. While he's a self-professed lifelong Cowboys fan, the hometown connection probably would have been appealing to him. The Eagles would need to work through some financial complications, but there isn't a better GM than Howie Roseman when it comes to paying his dudes and still finding ways to fill out the roster margins.
How the Eagles' offense holds up after Saquon Barkley's grueling and intensive 2024 campaign remains to be seen, but Philly should be the best team in the NFC again if all breaks right. Now just imagine Parsons joining the most talented front-to-back defense in the league — and how angry it would make Cowboys fans. Man... what a thought.