Somehow the Green Bay Packers weren't the only losers in Thursday's 35-14 smackdown handed down by the Atlanta Falcons. The team dropped to 1-2 and with how poorly everyone played, there's a serious likelihood Green Bay won't make the playoffs and could end up with Top 10 draft pick.
Except, the Packers wouldn't be making that selection in April 2027 because they sent that pick to the Dallas Cowboys in the blockbuster August 2025 trade that sent star pass rusher Micah Parsons up north to Wisconsin. But the Cowboys, too, may not be picking anyone at that spot because Jerry Jones flipped the more favorable of his team's two first-rounders just months later to the New York Jets to acquire their star defensive lineman Quinnen Williams.
Friendly reminder that the Packers' first-rounder in 2027 goes to the Cowboys ONLY IF they finish with a better record (or make a deeper playoff run).
— Mookie Alexander (@mookiealexander) September 25, 2026
Otherwise? That Packers pick belongs to the New York Jets.
Dallas rolled the dice on re-tooling its defense in the wake of catastrophically broken down contract negotiations with Parsons. It wound up with the league's worst defense in 2025 and has begun the 2026 campaign by giving up 48 points in two games. Now it's stuck with Williams -- who has earned a dismal 49.1 overall grade from PFF so far this season -- and could miss out on the chance to draft high should the Packers continue their tailspin.
Jerry Jones got the shortest end of the stick in Micah Parsons trade
The Dallas Cowboys have a true shot at winning the NFC East this season. The offense is still humming at a dangerous level of efficiency and the defense isn't as terrible as last year. Yet, the fans are still going to find a way to claim their team messed up big time. They aren't entirely wrong either.
Jones made a negotiation concession he probably didn't have to make to the Jets to get Williams. However, he made a calculated decision that Parsons was going to elevate Green Bay's ability to win games and, therefore, the first-rounder he acquired from them would be less than or equal in value to the Cowboys own. The football gods have a funny way of throwing a wrench in those calculations most of the time when it comes to Jones.
Parsons played 14 games last season and recorded 12.5 sacks. The Cowboys could've used that kind of pocket pressure in 2025. Now, having been able to move on somewhat from his absence, Parsons hasn't played a single down for Green Bay this year due to injury and the Packers' losses are weighing just as much on Dallas' future as they are on their own.
Unless Green Bay figures out how to flip the script on its season -- which isn't out of the question by a long shot -- Jones should be preparing his draft board for late-round selections. Don't let anyone convince you decisions made in the present won't have far-reaching consequences, especially in the NFL.
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