FRISCO, Texas – On Thursday, Brian Schottenheimer got a call from Jerry and Stephen Jones and knew exactly what he meant.
The Cowboys had decided to trade All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. It's one of if not the most seismic trades in recent NFL history, but it's one that the entire organization agreed upon.
"We just went through the whole process and at the end of the day, it was unanimous," Schottenheimer said. "This is not something we came about; it wasn't something where it was an overnight thing. We had talked about it and at the end of the day, I think when you look at a football team, when you can essentially add up to four or five players and things like that it gives you the ability to do some things."
In the week leading up to the trade on Thursday, Schottenheimer and Parsons spoke about his actions during the team's last preseason game, where he laid down on one of the team's medical tables behind the bench. During those conversations, the thought that it would be one of the last times the two spoke together never crossed Schottenheimer's mind even though the team had discussed the possibility of a trade.
"You never know," Schottenheimer said. "You're not certain until it's done. And one it's done, it's done. That's the best way to handle that stuff…"
"I've been pretty upfront and honest that I was confident he'd be back. At the end of the day, we're happy for Micah, his family, you look at the deal that he got and that's awesome. I wish him nothing but the best."
Schottenheimer says that once he got off the phone with the Jones family, he began to call 12-14 of his players to check in on them after the trade. The names included that of Trevon Diggs, one of Parsons' closest friends, as well as Dak Prescott and Dante Fowler.
"I wanted them to hear my voice," Schottenheimer said. "You never know how guys are going to take news like that, but I thought it was important for them to know two things: I'm a connections guy, [and] I'm not afraid to have hard conversations."
One of the larger conversations that he had to have was with his entire team, which Schottenheimer spoke to on Friday morning before their first practice in preparation for the season opener. His message?
"Nothing's changed, my goals haven't changed, our team goals haven't changed," Schottenheimer said. "I hit the players on that today after I talked about the tough couple days for all the guys. It doesn't change, the standard is the standard."
One of the things the Cowboys are hoping comes from this trade is help on the inside of the defensive line against the run. That's why defensive tackle Kenny Clark was part of the deal, and a deal may not have gone through at all if he wasn't in it.
"He's very, very disruptive inside," Schottenheimer said of Clark. "When we looked at it, it was something that at the end of the day, when you get a chance to get things back in return that you're excited about, then you make a move."
Also in that deal were two first round picks, one in 2026 and the other in 2027. Having four first rounders of the next two years is a luxury that Schottenheimer and the Cowboys don't take lightly.
"Obviously, at the end of the day, we've got to maximize the picks that we have," Schottenheimer said. "That'll obviously be the plan."
Of the several reasons why the Cowboys made the trade, one of them was Schottenheimer and the team's confidence in the pass rushers that Dallas has on the roster behind Parsons.
"That was a big part of it," Schottenheimer said. "You're always looking at different areas. When you look at the guys that we have that can create pass rush, Dante [Fowler] and Sam [Williams], certainly drafting a guy like Donovan [Ezeiruaku], James Houston's a guy that's come out of nowhere… it was part of the decision."
Following the move, Ezeiruaku and Marshawn Kneeland told reporters in the locker room that Parsons had sent a group text to his position group last night after the news broke, wishing them well and saying he'd always be there for them.
For Schottenheimer, that shows he's taking a step in the right direction in one of the most important departments of a football team: Culture.
"That doesn't surprise me. Micah's part of our family. That doesn't change. When you leave the team, Zack Martin's still part of the family. It doesn't change it," Schottenheimer said. "It makes me happy that those guys are still going to be close… that's what I want, because what that means is that we're building the right type of culture."
Now, Schottenheimer and the Cowboys hope that culture in the pass rushing department can translate onto the field in place of no longer having Parsons. Their first test comes in just six days against the reigning Super Bowl champions.
