Dallas Cowboys All-Pro Micah Parsons wants out of Big D. The Green Bay Packers could be a pass rusher away from bringing the Lombardi Trophy back to GB.
Could the Packers complete a blockbuster trade?
There are significant obstacles to a hypothetical trade, though that’s the case for most teams.
First and foremost, there are the finances. The Steelers’ recent extension with T.J. Watt is worth $41.0 million per season.
“They should’ve paid him $40 million and been done with it,” one high-ranking NFL team executive said. “Now, they’re probably going to have to do $44 (million) or $45 (million) to make it look good.”
The Packers have about $31 million of cap space for the upcoming season, according to OverTheCap.com, though they’ll need to sock some money away for a practice squad, gameday elevations and other transactions. Moving into 2026, they’ve taken care of the heavy lifting by signing right tackle Zach Tom to a contract extension, but there are other talented free agents coming up. Plus, some veterans have exploding contracts.
For instance, Jordan Love, Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs and Aaron Banks have a combined cap charge of about $68 million for this season. That is set to soar to almost $95 million for 2026. That’s why the Packers in 2026 have about $2 million of cap space, according to OTC. Thus, they might have to move heaven and earth to make it work.
Financially, anything is possible, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch, either. At some point, the Packers would have to pay the piper.
Beyond finances, there are other obstacles. The Packers will play at Dallas on Sunday night in Week 4. Trading Parsons would be bad enough organizationally for the Cowboys. Imagine a ticked-off Parsons embarrassing Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in primetime.
Plus, as a really good team, the Packers would have to sweeten the pot in any trade. Take the Las Vegas Raiders, for instance. They are coming off a 4-13 season. Coach Pete Carroll, who will turn 74 next month, didn’t come out of retirement to take on a long rebuild. Parsons would help jump-start the path to the playoffs. Still, it’s safe to assume that the Raiders with Parsons would give the Cowboys a better draft pick than the Packers with Parsons.
What would it take for Green Bay to get a hypothetical trade done?
One source, who has put together trades before, thought back to the Chicago Bears acquiring Khalil Mack from the Raiders in 2018. The Bears gave up two first-round picks, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick in exchange for Mack, a second-round pick and a conditional fifth-rounder.
At the time, Mack was entering his fifth year in the NFL and his 27-year-old season. In his first four seasons, he had 40.5 sacks, 68 tackles for losses and nine forced fumbles. He was a three-time Pro Bowler and a two-time first-team All-Pro.
Parsons is entering his fifth year in the NFL and his 26-year-old season. In his four seasons, Parsons has 52.5 sacks, 63 tackles for losses and nine forced fumbles. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro.
The other source thought the Cowboys, because they’re a contending team, would want a combination of picks and a proven player. Coming off a Pro Bowl season and viewing it from Dallas’ perspective, Rashan Gary would be the logical player in a position-for-position swap.
When the Packers released Jaire Alexander, they could have used June 1 accounting but chose to take the financial pain now. If they did the same in trading Gary, it would essentially be break-even on the cap for 2025 while helping fund Parsons’ contract by removing cap hits of about $28.0 million 2026 and $31.0 million in 2027.
At the start of the league-year in March, it’s worth noting the Packers paid Gary an $8.7 million roster bonus.
A source thought a first-round pick, a third-round pick and Gary would be fair compensation for both sides.
Parsons could be a franchise-changing player for the Packers, who during the offseason failed to meaningfully address last year’s consistently inconsistent pass rush. According to PFF, Parsons had 70 pressures last season. Gary (47) and Lukas Van Ness (20), the projected starters this year, combined for 67. Parsons had 103 pressures in 2023; Gary has 107 the past two seasons combined.
Of course, this could all be baseless speculation. The sources said they expected the Cowboys to buckle and pay Parsons. “Never, ever trade a young Hall of Famer,” one said. However, it’s possible that the damage has been done and Parsons would reject any offer.
“Up to today, the team has not had a single conversation with my agent about a contract,” Parsons said on social media. “Not one demand has been made by my agent about money, years or anything else. Still I stayed quiet but again after repeated shots at myself and all the narratives, I have made a tough decision I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys.”
Parsons said he “personally” submitted his trade request to Stephen Jones.
In December, Stephen Jones said: “We love Micah. I can’t imagine there’s a scenario where he's not wearing a star on his helmet.”
Last year, Parsons joined the legendary Reggie White as the only players in NFL history with 12-plus sacks in each of his first four seasons.
“You know, you just can't sit on it too heavy. You got to keep going,” Parsons said after matching White. “I've seen Myles Garrett is the fastest to 100. I'm trying to chase him now. It’s always kind of like the next with me. I'm always chasing for something that's so far ahead. You know, you just got to stay hungry in the process. Kobe (Bryant) said you can rest at the end. You can rest eventually, but just not right now.”
