Last night’s season opener began the post-Micah Parsons era for the Cowboys. Dallas’ decision to trade away the All-Pro one week before their regular season began came as a shock to many and took place after interest from a number of suitors was shown. 
Following Parsons’ trade request, teams around the league did not view a swap as realistic. Dallas’ stance shifted over time, however, and calls came in before the team informed Parsons and his camp he would be play out his fifth-year option in 2025 or be dealt. Further details have now emerged regarding the trade market which took shape.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the Eagles made a “strong push” to acquire Parsons this offseason. That comes as little surprise, of course. General manager Howie Roseman has a reputation for being aggressive in pursuing impact roster moves, and adding Parsons to the fold would have helped offset the losses Philadelphia suffered in the pass rush department during free agency. Josh Sweat took a Cardinals pact on the open market while Brandon Graham retired and Bryce Huff was traded to the 49ers.
The Eagles made a pair low-cost investments in Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche, inking both to one-year pacts. Their projected impacts pale in comparison to what Parsons would have been counted on to contribute, of course. In any case, a homecoming for the Pennsylvania native and Penn State product did not receive serious consideration on Dallas’ part. As Schefter notes – and as Jerry Jones stated in his post-draft press conference last week – the Cowboys were not willing to trade Parsons within the division.
In addition to the Packers, other NFC suitors were present in this case. One of those was the Panthers, per Schefter’s colleague Jeremy Fowler. He notes Carolina called about Parsons and showed interest in a potential trade. No formal offer was made by general manager Dan Morgan, however. The Cowboys targeted a defensive tackle upgrade when evaluating partners for a Parsons trade, meaning Derrick Brown would have been involved in any serious discussions had they taken place. The Panthers opted to keep Brown (instead of wideout D.J. Moore) in place when trading with the Bears for the No. 1 pick in 2023, so it comes as no surprise Carolina was not as aggressive as other suitors.
Fowler adds Parsons was “intrigued” by a few destinations, with the Packers being one of them. Before his trade (and record-breaking extension) was in place, though, the 26-year-old also showed interest in joining the Chiefs and Ravens. Per Fowler, Kansas City was never truly in contention to pull off the move. Baltimore, like other teams, would have been hard-pressed to fit a Parsons deal into future cap planning; the Ravens also would have faced a logjam along the edge had no outside linebackers been sent back in the trade.
In the end, the Packers agreed to send Kenny Clark and their first-round pick in the next two drafts to the Cowboys for Parsons. The effects of the deal will be felt by both organizations for years to come, while other suitors will move forward with their current setups on the edge.
Cowboys should have asked for Jalen Carter. That would have been a great locker room.
He definitely helped the Pokes last night.
Carolina was the team…
If only they were willing to give up Brown plus Two 1st rd picks…
Those picks could be top ten easily…
Plus Brown is better than Clark imo…
Yeah, but that’s why he wasn’t offered. Derrick Brown plus a first would have been an underpay (not that Brown isn’t good; on the contrary, he’s great), and Brown plus two firsts would have left Carolina vulnerable in the middle without a high end pick to replace their starter. The Panthers’ picks would have been presumable better for Dallas, and we don’t figure to see Carolina challenging for a playoff push in the NFC just yet, so it would have been good for the Cowboys to make that same trade with Brown and Carolina replacing Clark and Green Bay.
The downside for the Panthers is that they’re losing a more valuable long term player that is probably their best on the roster. Clark is much more towards the back end of his career, and the Packers didn’t have him as a fire sure thing in their future plans.
The Panthers aren’t a player away from contending. It would’ve been a huge mistake to give up 2 first rounders when they’ve got plenty of holes to play fill.
No argument here.
Oh so you admit the packers were one player away from contending? Interesting! 😊
Is that to me? I don’t think that any team right now is really “a player away” from contending. If I’m Green Bay, I still have a handful of spots that I’d like to shore up, and I’m a contender as is. I definitely think that they’re closer than Carolina is though, and I think that you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree. The Packers are definitely contenders.
They are in a tough situation, because the North is so tough, and if the low end expectations could place them third in the division (I’m not putting them, just saying that is probably the low average). Even then, they’ll still likely be contenders out of the third spot, because they could probably beat any NFC team on any given day. That’s at the low end of expectations. I expect them to be better than that, and will probably be within three wins of the high end for the NFC at least.
No. Meant for rondon. Sorry if it came at you.
Well, I’ve never said the Packers weren’t playoff caliber. (The Panthers definitely aren’t). I react to your myopic “homer” views that are always so ridiculously one sided. I mean, what are you gonna do if the Bears actually become very competitive? Would you ever “admit” that? If you did, I could endure your cheesiness. Ha!
Yes I would. To be honest I don’t see the bears starting well this year. But I do see them getting better by the end of the season. Still in the basement of the NFCN. But not a bad team anymore.
No worries, man. To the credit of the rest of the NFCN, being the basement there is probably good enough to win a lesser division.
Agreed
Ok.. Fair enough. I’m not sure they’ll start well either. I see them having a season like the Lions did when they first became legitimately competitive. Started out 0 and 7,8? Then it finally clicked and they went 7-1 after. I don’t think they’ll go 0-7 but you get my point. Regardless, I do think at long last, they have a potentially great head coach. And if he can’t unlock Williams, no one will. (My biggest concern.)
I don’t think they’ll finish that hot. They don’t have the OL or pass rush for it IMO. And the pairing of a freelance quarterback and Johnson is interesting it might work. Or it could fail spectacularly. Dunno.
But I do definitely agree they’re going to be better this year than last.
My main thought in the nfcn is that the Lions and Vikings will both regress significantly and the Packers will get better.
All valid points. one small detail on Carolina is they had 7.5 million on cap space? Just how would have pulled this off?
Tepper threatens to throw drinks at anyone who refuses to take a pay cut?
Feels like he would throw drinks and threaten pay cuts.
For all the “cowboys will miss parsons” the eagles game came down to drops and turnovers more than pressure.
Just one game but it was winnable for the cowboys.