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The Dallas Cowboys’ view of trading superstar defensive end Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers is a simple one: It was the right move.
“We feel really good about it,” Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones said about trading Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in an interview with Mad Dog Sports Radio on Tuesday. “Obviously, much respect for Micah and what he stands for and how he plays and the caliber of player he is, but at the same time we feel good about what we’ve added via that trade.
“You look at a guy like Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, they’re alpha players, who not only are great players on the field, but they’re leaders in the meeting room. How they go about their business in the offseason; [they] just bring great leadership to this team. We add a guy like Caleb Downs, who’s obviously the same type of character. He’s going to make everybody around him great. Everybody’s going to feed off of him. And then the pieces that we’ve added the last couple of years. We’re fired up about [Donovan] Ezeiruaku, who was a second-round pick for us last year, who I think it’s all in front of.”
After failing to reach a long-term deal with Parsons last offseason, Dallas traded him to the Green Bay Packers for defensive tackle and three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark and two first-round picks (2026 and 2027) in August; Parsons subsequently signed a four-year, $188 million extension ($136 million guaranteed) with the Packers.
Parsons, a Pro Bowler in each of his five seasons in the NFL, went on to have a productive debut season with the Packers, but it was one that was cut short after 14 games due to a torn ACL. Prior to the injury, Parsons totaled 12.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and 41 combined tackles, helping him earn his third career All-Pro honor.
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Concurrently, at the 2025 NFL trade deadline, Dallas traded its 2026 second-rounder, a 2027 first-rounder – the highest of the two first-rounders that the Cowboys have in the 2027 NFL Draft – and defensive lineman and 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith to the New York Jets for defensive tackle and four-time Pro Bowler Quinnen Williams. Granted, the Cowboys missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season, finishing 7-9-1.
“I just feel very optimistic that we have the right pieces in place to go out there. Ultimately, the decision we made was that one player is not worth four or five good ones,” Jones said about the aftermath of the Parsons trade. “We feel like that’s where we’re gonna end up here, in a good spot. We had that opportunity there and didn’t feel like we were one player away last year, but I certainly feel like we’re putting the pieces together to give us an opportunity to go do what our fans deserve, what we want, which is to go try and win the big trophy.”
As for this past draft, the Cowboys traded up one spot with the Miami Dolphins to select Ohio State Buckeyes safety and two-time All-American Caleb Downs with the No. 11 pick. They also traded back three spots with the Philadelphia Eagles, selecting UCF Knights defensive lineman Malachi Lawrence with the No. 23 pick — which they received from the Packers in the Parsons trade — among other selections.
