Revisiting the Micah Parsons trade: Who got the better of the deal between Cowboys, Packers?

It hasn't been a lose-lose situation, but it's not going the way either team planned

Oct 15, 2026 at 7:23 am ET • 6 min read

Just over one year ago, the Packers visited the Cowboys in one of the most anticipated early-season games in recent memory: Micah Parsons' return to Dallas a month after one of the most stunning trades in NFL history.

It didn't disappoint. Jordan Love and Dak Prescott combined for 656 passing yards and seven total touchdowns, Parsons had a crucial sack, and the game ended in a 40-40 tie.

Parsons, still recovering from tearing his ACL late last season, won't be available to welcome his former team to Lambeau Field this week. It's a crucial contest for both teams, with Dallas at 2-3 coming off an embarrassing home loss to the previously winless Buccaneers and Green Bay 3-2 after a big win over the Bears.

So now, 13 and a half months after an all-time blockbuster move, we revisit how both teams fared.

The trade

• Packers receive: EDGE Micah Parsons (signs four-year, $188 million extension)
• Cowboys receive: 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, DL Kenny Clark

NOTES:

• 2026 first-round pick was used in trade, eventually became EDGE Malachi Lawrence, CB Devin Moore, DL LT Overton
• 2027 first-round pick was used in trade for DL Quinnen Williams

How the Packers have fared

The lead-up to the trade was nearly as dramatic as the trade itself. Months of back-and-forth between Parsons and Jerry Jones. Quips from CeeDee Lamb, Prescott and Stephen Jones (Jerry's son). Parsons' trade demand. Jerry Jones saying he hadn't talked to Parsons' agent. A war of words between the owner and said agent. And finally, on Aug. 28, the trade.

Parsons' injury complicates things, but early on, it was a win for the Packers. Entering a Week 15 matchup with the Broncos last year, Green Bay was 9-3-1 and looked very much like a Super Bowl contender on both sides of the ball.

Parsons had 12.5 sacks in just 14 games, despite a slow ramp-up period to start the season. Parsons was so good, in fact, that he finished as a first-team All-Pro despite missing the final three games of the season.

But that one fateful misstep while trying to sack Bo Nix ... The Packers crumbled, not just on that day, but during the rest of the season. The loss to Denver was the first of five straight (including a playoff collapse against the Bears) to finish the year. The Packers went from fifth in yards per play allowed to 26th. Their sack rate went from 14th to dead last.

The Packers have righted the ship after an ugly 1-2 start this season, but the wins have been over the Buccaneers, headed by undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels in his first NFL start, and the Bears without Caleb Williams. Issues remain, and injuries on defense are piling up. Much hinges on how and when Parsons returns. If he looks like his old self and the offense can prove its progress last week was no fluke, the Packers are a playoff team. But if Green Bay can't return to the postseason, there will be big questions ahead of what should be an all-in 2027.

ACL tears can't be foreseen, unfortunately, but they do happen. It's just a really unfortunate injury that leaves us wondering "What if?" from last season and wondering what it will look like later this season.

Cowboys have failed to replace Parsons ... or add enough talent anywhere on defense

The Cowboys, meanwhile, haven't shown any signs of being a winner — whether this trade or on the field — since the Parsons blockbuster. They went 7-9-1 last year and are 2-3 this year. The defense remains one of the worst units in the league.

Cowboys defensive ranks	2025	2026
Yards per play	31st	32nd
Yards per attempt	31st	30th
Sack rate	25th	29th
Explosive play arate	32nd	31st

As it turns out, replacing a historically great pass rusher isn't easy.

In the short term, Jones defended the trade by lauding Clark and saying he could use the extra draft capital acquired to aggressively pursue another big name. They did just that, acquiring Williams at the trade deadline.

The issue? Clark and Williams have proved more "name" than "game." That was always the way it was trending for Clark. Though "three-time Pro Bowler" sounded nice attached to Clark's name, it was clear he was no longer that caliber of player. After 7.5 sacks in 2023, he had one in 2024.

Clark has three sacks in 22 games with the Cowboys, including zero this season. His 6.3% pressure rate is on pace to be the worst of his career, too. Out of 28 interior defenders with at least 200 snaps played, Clark is 22nd in PFF's grades. He is, at best, an average starter.

The Williams trade and subsequent three-year, $105.9 million extension he signed this offseason look like questionable decisions at best. At the very least, he, like Clark, isn't producing at his peak level. The issue? The Cowboys paid for — in terms of trade compensation and contract extension — a player at his peak.

Quinnen Williams	2022-23	2024-26
Games	33	36
Sacks	17.5	9.5
QB hits	48	33
Pressure rate	14.6%	13%
TFL	23	22

Long story short, the Cowboys hailed Clark as a Pro Bowler and Williams as a superstar. That was true in the years before Dallas acquired them, but it hasn't been true since.

Lawrence, whom the Cowboys acquired in the first round of the 2026 draft after a Packers trade back, has flashed in limited snaps. Still, he doesn't project as a massive needle-mover for a team trying (and so far failing) to compete for a Super Bowl. You know who a massive needle mover was? Micah Parsons.

This offseason alone, the Cowboys brought in ...

• a new defensive coordinator (Christian Parker)
• new EDGE defenders (Lawrence, Rashan Gary, Von Miller)
• new linebackers (Dee Winters, Jaishawn Barham)
• new safeties (Caleb Downs, Jalen Thompson)
• a new cornerback (Cobie Durant)
• and a new interior defensive lineman (Otito Ogbonnia)

They also traded for Joey Porter Jr. a couple of weeks ago, though it's still too early to draw any conclusions there.

Simply put, the Cowboys have failed to replicate Parsons' star talent (Williams was their big attempt) or improve the product around the gaping hole Parsons' departure left. Their Super Bowl aspirations are being destroyed by a bottom-of-the-barrel defense ... again.

Jets the biggest winner here

When it comes to just Packers vs. Cowboys, the Packers are the "winner" of this deal. Simply put, if you could have the Packers' defense with Parsons or the Cowboys' defense as currently constructed, it's the Packers by a landslide. Parsons' return to full health is obviously a big question, but he is still just 27 (another reason the Cowboys' move looks worse in hindsight) and should be a force for many more years.

When we throw the Jets into the equation, there becomes a clear winner. When the Cowboys acquired Williams, they sent the better of their two 2027 first-round picks — either their own or the Packers' from the Parsons trade — to New York. The Cowboys probably figured those would be late first-round selections. But if the draft were held today, they would be sending the ninth pick to New York.

The Jets also have their own 2027 first-round pick and the Colts' 2027 first-round pick from the Sauce Gardner trade.

The pressure is always on for the Cowboys. It's on even more so when they're losing, and even more more so when they're losing after they've gone all-in on winning. The Jets' front office will gladly watch both the Packers and Cowboys struggle to find consistency, knowing it could reap a big reward.