The Ripple Effects of the Micah Parsons Trade

After much speculation, the Dallas Cowboys have traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks. As part of the deal, the Packers are giving the All-Pro edge rusher a four-year contract extension worth $188 million. The $47 million per year deal makes Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. So where do both teams go from here? Let's break it down.

The Cowboys Will Be An NFC Cellar-Dweller in 2025

Trading Parsons solidifies one thing for the Cowboys: the team will be among the bottom-tier of NFC teams this season.

Outside of wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys have no other elite players on their roster. Dak Prescott is now 32 years old and coming off a second major lower-body injury. He is not guaranteed to regain his 2021-23 form that saw him as an MVP candidate. The Cowboys’ newest defender, Clark, is older and will inevitably regress. The Cowboys have five players that are household names—Prescott, Lamb, Clark, George Pickens, and Trevon Diggs—and a bunch of no-names. Their best pass rusher is a 31-year-old Dante Fowler who never lived up to the expectations that came with being the third overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Combine the roster changes with a new head coach in Brian Schottenheimer, whose qualifications to being a head coach in the first place were rightfully questioned by the media, and the Cowboys are primed to finish last in the NFC East. Say what you will about the New York Giants, but if you look at their roster, it's indisputable that they have better players than the Cowboys. The NFC East picture is now clear: the Eagles and Commanders will battle for first place, while the Cowboys and Giants will fight for third place.

The Packers Are Now NFC North Favorites

If you read a previous article I did about the Minnesota Vikings, I predicted they would win the NFC North in 2025. I'm now changing my mind and picking the Packers to win the division.

Yes, there are still questions as to how good Jordan Love really is. He regressed in 2024 after an elite eight-game stretch (including playoffs) to end the 2023 season. Granted, he suffered a knee injury in Week 1 that clearly impacted him for the rest of the season. The real question is—was Love’s late 2023 run a flash in the pan or was his subpar season a result of playing hurt?

The Packers’ wide receiver group was a major question mark last year, but they addressed that need by using their 2025 first-round pick on Matthew Golden out of Texas. Tucker Kraft has emerged as a legitimate No. 1 tight end. Their already-solid offensive line was upgraded in the offseason with the signing of guard Aaron Banks—even if the team overpaid for him. Parsons gives a boost to a good defense featuring studs such as Rashan Gary, Edgerrin Cooper, and Xavier McKinney, and his presence should allow for 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness to break out and finally meet the expectations that came with his draft position.

The Packers have made the playoffs the last two years despite their roster being among the NFL’s youngest. If Love rebounds from his underwhelming 2024 season, and if the team’s young players continue to grow, there's no reason why this team can't make the Super Bowl.

This Was Another Classic Jerry Jones Failure

When the then-Oakland Raiders traded Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears in 2018, they received two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick. Parsons and Mack have similar stats throughout their first four seasons with their original teams. Parsons beats Mack in sacks (52.5 to Mack’s 40.5), while Mack beats Parsons in tackles (231 tackles to Parsons’ 172). Other than that, they are very similar players. Both have nine forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries. Both have multiple Pro Bowl and All Pro selections. Surely Parsons would go for a package similar to the one Mack went for, right?

Wrong. Jerry Jones decided to do his best Nico Harrison impression. Just as Harrison got an underwhelming return for Luka Doncic, Jones got an underwhelming return for Parsons. Two first-round picks and an aging defensive lineman is an EXTREMELY underwhelming return for a player of Parsons’ caliber. This trade should have netted the Cowboys AT LEAST three first-rounders and two middle-to-lower round picks.

This trade is another addition to the long list of failures Jones has committed as Cowboys owner/GM since their last Super Bowl win 30 years ago. Since Jimmy Johnson’s unceremonious firing back in 1994, Jerry has continued to hire yes-man puppets at head coach, overpay good to slightly-above-average players, and make questionable trades regarding star players. No other organization would have hired guys like Schottenheimer, Jason Garrett, Dave Campo, or Chan Gailey to be their head coach. No other organization would have given players like Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott the hefty second contracts Jones gave them. Some other notable failures by Jones include the disastrous free-agent signings of Dontari Poe and Greg Hardy, the trade that sent Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for pennies on the dollar, and not giving Derrick Henry $8 million per year to come play for a team he wanted to play for.

In recent years, many have compared Jones to the late Al Davis, and it's a comparison that's becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Both found early success during their time in the owners box with three championships. Both men built iconic NFL brands. However, their successes brought stubbornness. In his last years, Davis made several questionable decisions that sent the Raiders falling from an empire to the definition of mediocrity. Jones is sending the Cowboys down the same path. Although the Cowboys are easily the league’s biggest brand, the results haven't matched the hype since the 1990s.

The Times Are Changing In Green Bay

One of the most under-reported stories of the 2025 offseason was Packers president, CEO, and de facto owner Mark Murphy retiring. His successor, Ed Policy, has already sent signals that things will be different under his leadership.

Policy pushed for the Parsons trade because he wanted to “make a splash” to begin his tenure as president. It’s also become clear that Policy won't be afraid to make leadership changes if the team doesn't live up to his expectations. Packers reporter Matt Schneidman recently went on The Pat McAfee Show and said that both head coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst could be fired if the Packers have an underwhelming 2025 season.

For those who don't know Policy, he is the son of former San Francisco 49ers executive Carmen Policy, who was with the team for all five of their Super Bowl victories in the 1980s and 90s. Much like his father, Ed has already shown signs of running a championship-driven operation. Under Ed’s leadership, one thing has become clear: as long as he is running the Packers, they are going to be an aggressive franchise always in the hunt for superstar players.

The Parsons trade has sent a clear message: the Cowboys will be a bottom-tier franchise in 2025, while the Packers’ championship aspirations have been taken to the next level. What are your thoughts on the trade? Comment on our social media & subscribe to the Chaotically Intolerant newsletter for more great reads!

Serafino Diaz is a writer at Chaotically Intolerant, Phoenix's finest Vikings, Bucks, and Cubs fan, traveling everywhere I can.