Nearly four weeks ago, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons requested a trade. The next day, Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones dismissed it as a negotiating tactic.
At least one team has not.
In response to recent indications from the Twitter user known as “RickeyScoops” (who undoubtedly owns real estate on the NFL’s grapevine) that the Packers want to trade for Parsons, we’ve done some digging. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Packers are “interested.” However, the interest is “nowhere near the smoke that’s out there.”
None of it matters if the Cowboys won’t trade him. In all of the stuff Jones has spewed on the matter, he has never said anything to suggest that they’re open to doing a deal.
Why would they be? If, as many believe, Parsons would yield a pair of first-round picks and likely more, trading Parsons now would have the same impact as trading him after the season. No future draft picks will matter in 2025.
If, of course, the package included a player the Cowboys covet, that could change things. A straight draft-pick deal won’t help the Cowboys this year.
Besides, the through line in all of these contract disputes is power. Who has it. Who doesn’t. The owners are holding the same rope they were encouraged to collectively pull by the Management Council, after the Browns broke ranks to give quarterback Deshaun Watson a five-year, fully-guaranteed contract.
And if the Cowboys were to trade Parsons, they’d likely try to find a partner not in the NFC.
Of course, the Week 4 Sunday night game on NBC and Peacock between Green Bay and Dallas in Arlington would instantly become far more compelling if Parsons were playing for the visiting team. So, as an employee of NBC, I’m officially rooting for a trade to the Packers.
