The Cowboys Did Not Want Micah Parsons To Ever Be An Eagle
The Cowboys shocked the NFL world this past summer by trading away one of the best players in the league. Only 1 player has more sacks over the last 4…
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN – SEPTEMBER 11: Micah Parsons #1 of the Green Bay Packers in action against the Washington Commanders at Lambeau Field on September 11, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)The Cowboys shocked the NFL world this past summer by trading away one of the best players in the league. Only 1 player has more sacks over the last 4 seasons than Micah Parsons. But when Parsons got into a contract dispute with Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner let it get personal and decided to trade him rather than keep his star player.
So the Cowboys traded their best player to the Packers for 2 1st-round picks and DT Kenny Clark. Parsons immediately signed a 4-year deal that made him the highest-paid non-QB in the league. But there was reportedly a better deal on the table from the Eagles. At the time, Jay Glazer reported that the Eagles offered two 1sts, a 3rd, and a 5th-round pick. But the Cowboys took less to send him out of the division.
The Cowboys Really Did Not Want Micah Parsons To Be An Eagle
The lengths the Cowboys went to keep him off the Eagles is even greater than that. There was another condition to the trade with the Packers that went unreported until now. According to Adam Schefter, the deal contained a "poison pill" that would require the Packers to send the Cowboys another 1st round pick if they trade Parsons to an NFC East team.
The Packers likely would not want to trade Parsons anyway. They gave up two firsts for him and signed him to a massive contract. Not to mention the impact he has since made for their defense. But this does indicate just how desperate the Cowboys were to prevent Parsons from being an Eagle.
Parsons has ties to the Philly area. He has often been spotted at 76ers games during the off-season. There had been rumors he would like to play for the Eagles dating back to the draft, and carrying through his time with the Cowboys. Jones spited both parsons and his division rival by preventing that union from even happening. Even if it hurt his own team in the process.
This is not the first time this type of poison pill has been inserted in an NFL trade. The Packers used it themselves when they traded Brett Favre to the Jets, to keep the Jets from sending him to the Vikings. Ironically, he wound up signing with the Vikings as a free agent a year later.
