FRISCO, Texas — The ongoing saga between the Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons has come to an explosive end, with the All-Pro pass rusher being traded to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, the two teams agreeing to terms just seven days ahead of the 2025 regular season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
What does this mean for the Cowboys going forward?
Well, grab your notepad for this one.
Precedent, or Lack Thereof
The decision to part ways with a disgruntled Parsons following a months-long contractual stalemate sends shockwaves throughout the organization on several levels, some already known and some to-be-determined, so let's begin with what's objectively true at this moment, as Parsons becomes only the second player in the Jerry Jones era to be traded following a Pro Bowl season.
The first was safety Thomas Everett in 1994.
Circle the Sept. 28 date on your calendar, because that's when Parsons will make his return to Dallas, on the same field he was forced to watch the Packers celebrate that during that fateful January.
The Money
Extending Parsons would've converted roughly a little more than $18 million toward the 2025 salary cap, versus retaining him without an extension and, in that case, his fifth-year option would've fully guaranteed a $24 million cap hit this season.
In choosing to trade him, the Cowboys will gain the entire $24 million towards their current salary cap, pushing their available salary cap space to north of $44 million to use however they so choose — keeping in mind they can roll over any unused portion of that space in 2026 free agency.
The Packers will pay Parsons an average of $47 million annually with a reported $136 million guaranteed, and those were numbers Jones and the Cowboys were never close to paying.
Now, to the roster.
Clark Bar
First things first, and that's the fact there is a player included in the package of two first-round picks, one for 2026 and another in 2027, as defensive tackle Kenny Clark heads to Dallas, he does so for a team in dire need of solving the equation at nose tackle. What's unfortunate for Clark is the simple fact anything short of a Hall of Fame stint with the Cowboys will be viewed outside of the building as insufficient simply because he is tied to the Parsons trade.
That notwithstanding, Clark does upgrade the 1-tech position.
As a quick but related aside, the two first-round picks may or may not work in the Cowboys' favor, because the Packers, who were already contenders and walked all over Dallas at AT&T Stadium in a postseason humiliation, are now objectively better on paper and that means the 2026 first-round pick could very well end up being later on Day 1 — effectively making it more of a second-rounder.
If the Cowboys want a high pick on Day 1 in either of the two years to come, they'll need the Packers to somehow implode.
Now, back to Clark.
A former first-round pick of the Packers in 2016, Clark has since earned three Pro Bowl nods, as recently as 2023, and has a whopping 126 starts and 140 overall games under his belt — only one year removed from racking up 7.5 sacks (career high) and 44 combined tackles with nine tackles for loss (career high), three pass deflections (t-career high), two forced fumbles (t-career high) and two fumble recoveries (t-career high) through 17 starts.
Also highly durable, Clark has missed only eight games in his entire nine-year NFL career, and the Cowboys now control his rights through the 2027 season, his cap hit for 2025 being just $3 million before ballooning to $21.5 million in 2026 — though the Cowboys can avoid that with a restructure and instead save $9.6 million with that trigger pull.
There is also the ability to extend Clark early, but let's just stay away from that topic at the moment, considering the context of this conversation.
Thanks for understanding.
The Mazi Variable
It'll be interesting to see what the addition of Clark means for fellow former first-round pick Mazi Smith, who has been inconsistent in his play, as confirmed by both himself and head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Smith was likely closer to being a roster casualty this August than he'd like or could've imagined, and Perrion Winfrey is drawing intense praise from the coaching staff after the Cowboys opted to keep him on the active 53-man roster, and in emotional fashion.
It stands to reason Clark will get a hefty chunk of work, instantly becoming the most proven nose tackle on the roster, and the rest could see Smith chasing reps in a battle with not only Winfrey, but also rookie seventh-round pick Jay Toia.
It would be unfathomable to conceive arguing to acquire Clark only to subjugate him via backup duties and, again, for a team in desperate need of upping its play at nose tackle.
For Smith, the pressure to break out in 2025 just hit fever pitch, but with a very large hurdle now in the way; and literally, with Clark standing 6-foot-3 and weighing nearly 320 pounds.
Keeping to the roster, what exactly can the pass rush be without Parsons in the building?
Matt Eberflus won't know what his defense could be with Parsons terrorizing within it, but he has plenty of data on the other edge rushers in Dallas.
The Others
There was once a time, pre-Parsons and post-Demarcus Ware when owner and general manager Jerry Jones declared he'd do anything possible to locate a "war daddy", and subsequently landed one in the 2021 NFL Draft to achieve that mission in drafting Parsons out of Penn State; and the Cowboys have excelled in pressuring the quarterback ever since.
At face value, two things are true: the Cowboys still have lethal depth at defensive end, and that none of the players on the roster are equivalent to what Parsons' production has been, at least not as we have this conversation on Aug. 28, 2025.
The ceiling on second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku feels nearly limitless, but it feels wildly unfair to presume he'll deliver 10+ sacks in Year 1 (or in Year 2?), despite Parsons making it look easy en route to breaking NFL records and etching his name alongside players like Hall of Fame pass rusher Reggie White.
And speaking of the White, the Packers may have finally gotten his successor.
Dante Fowler is coming off of a career season, yes, but he's the only proven talent at the edge heading into the opener against the Eagles. Marshawn Kneeland is poised to take a major step forward in Year 2, but the size of that stride would need to mirror that of Mr. Fantastic stepping over a city to supplant Parsons' production.
You have to love what James Houston might be as well, a menace in training camp and the preseason but, again, unproven, and the same applies for former second-round pick Sam Williams who, by the way, may or may not need some grace as he returns from a torn ACL and without having played in any preseason games to shake off the game rust.
That's a lot more questions than there are answers, and that's not a subjective take.
It's a fact — science, if you will.
