The Dallas Cowboys continue to unearth never-before-seen levels of front office stupidity. With all due respect, how did we reach this point? Micah Parsons has officially requested a trade. He did so with a lengthy statement outlining how negotiations (if we can call them that) unfolded and why he no longer wishes to play for the Cowboys anymore.
Thank you Dallas 🦁👑 🙏🏾! I pic.twitter.com/EUnEj9uRUt
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) August 1, 2025
Does this mean Micah Parsons is getting traded? Maybe. Probably not, given how business tends to unfold in the NFL. Dallas has "no intention" to trade the 26-year-old with four Pro Bowls under his belt, per The Athletic's Dianna Russini. But the door is open in a way most of us never thought possible for the best pass-rusher in the sport and a once-vocal face of the Cowboys organization.
Few players have embraced Dallas like Parsons has. He has four missed games in four NFL seasons. He has made four Pro Bowls, two All-Pro first teams and won Defensive Player of the Year all before his second contract. He's an all-time talent, and yet here we are. The Cowboys have sullied their relationship with an icon.
So what's next?
Micah Parsons trade request makes Jerry Jones the bad guy
I'm not sure what the Cowboys expected here. Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones so plainly dropped the ball. Parsons showed up to a random leadership meeting and said he was willing to take a discount, but when his agent reached out, Dallas played hardball? Why exactly? We may never know how the mind of football's only billionaire GM functions.
Parsons' agent has evidently not received a call in months. The Cowboys aren't even trying to bridge the gap. The idea of negotiating with Parsons directly and then refusing to rehash and move those conversations forward with his agent is absurd. There isn't a single star who does not run contract talks through an agent. The Cowboys come off as petulant and delusional, like they're trying to prove a point. The "point" is unclear as of this writing, but I'm sure ol' Jerry will give us an earful the next time he's in front of a microphone.
Having your agent call the front office to talk shop after an impromptu and unscheduled conversation between player and GM is totally reasonable. That is how deals get made in this league. To act like Parsons was suddenly going back on his word or something (??) is pure delusion on Dallas' part.
Even if he stays, Micah Parsons' trade request will hurt the Cowboys long term
If the Cowboys trade Parsons, it's an abject failure and a catastrophic step back for an organization that is feigning Super Bowl aspirations. Even if Dallas can bring things back around and get Parsons to put pen to paper on a new deal, the stench of this debacle will not fade.
Dallas waited until the very last second to extend Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, the cornerstones of their offense, last summer. Now they're finding new ways to make Parsons look like a martyr while the front office stumbles over itself attempting to justify why the team hasn't re-signed a historically dominant defender who, again, was apparently willing to give up some money to help the team. In the middle of his prime, too!
Cowboys players are changing their social media profile pictures to Micah Parsons in a show of solidarity. We get ugly contract negotiations all the time in the NFL — Trey Hendrickson is still holding in with the Bengals — but few reach this point, especially with players as essential to a team's DNA as Parsons. More than leading their star to a trade request, Dallas has laid bare its utter incompetence to the entire league. This isn't two sides disagreeing over money. It's Dallas holding Parsons to a handshake deal that was never actually shook on.
Truly idiotic and insulting things are happening in the Dallas front office right now. The Cowboys are an embarrassment to themselves and it's unclear why any star would trust Jerry Jones or his son ever again.