Micah Parsons traded to Green Bay Packers

Micah Parsons, a defensive end known for his effective pass rushing, was meant to be a “Cowboy for life,” according to ESPN. Those words came to a halt on Aug. 28, 2025, of this year when the Dallas Cowboys general manager and owner, Jerry Jones, made a move to trade Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks out of the 2026 and 2027 drafts. Parsons was drafted in 2021, and it was a dream come true for him because, in the words of his agent, “Micah wanted to be a Cowboy. He grew up cheering for the Cowboys,” said David Mulugheta.

The trade was suddenly devastating to fans across the globe. Not only did it devastate fans, but it also devastated the Cowboys’ defensive line. Parsons was known for his fast pace and game-wrecking pass-rushing ability, which effectively threw off the opponent’s quarterback. In just his third season in the NFL, he set a personal best record of 14 sacks that season. Without Parsons on the Cowboys’ defensive line, it dramatically weakens their ball pressure on the quarterback and adds more pressure onto the cornerbacks, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland. Even though Parsons left a hole in the defensive line for the Cowboys, the trade managed to fill their weakest spot, the defensive tackle. Kenny Clark is a Pro-Bowl caliber player with an effective nose tackle that halts the line of scrimmage to stop the run, and will hopefully be effective for the weak defense.

Throughout all this hassle, Cowboys fans knew this was going to happen soon because Parsons publicly announced at the beginning of August that he wanted to be traded and stated he “no longer wanted to be there.” 

One of ESPN’s many reporters and writers, Todd Archer, covered why Dak Prescott, Dallas’s first-string quarterback, was glad a solution was reached. “Just with the way the negotiations went down, obviously to some extent… y’all were asking me questions, it seemed like it got personal on their end,” Prescott said. Prescott continued into his interview with Archer, complimenting Parsons’ “game wrecking style,” and telling Archer how if a trade had not come per Parsons’ request, “That would have been a lot more of a headache and distraction than getting a solution to it.” 

Despite the trade, ESPN created a prediction list of how the 2025 NFL season will stand. They predicted that the Cowboys have a 28% chance of making the playoffs with their biggest concern being “The defense. The trade of Micah Parsons gives the Cowboys questions everywhere. Can their pass rushers produce without as much attention being paid to Parsons? Do they have enough corners, even with Trevon Diggs

on the roster to start the season? Is DT Kenny Clark, acquired from the Parsons trade, enough to fix a run defense that has been leaky for years? New coordinator Matt Eberflus has his work cut out for him. — Archer.”  

Regardless of all this, the Dallas Cowboys put up a good fight against last year’s Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. The game was lost by a mere 4 points and was down to the wire, showing improvements from last season when the Eagles won by good margins against the Cowboys twice. It was clear throughout the game on Thursday night that Eagles superstar quarterback Jalen Hurts was not pressured without Micah Parsons there to make an impact for the Cowboys.

Sources: ESPN, NFL