FRISCO, Texas – Need some help with this one.
And understand the hullabaloo being made over Micah Parsons returning to AT&T Stadium Sunday night with the Packers. This marks his first time back since the Cowboys traded him to the Green Bay six days before the start of the 2025 season for essentially defensive tackle Kenny Clark and a first-round draft choice in each of the 2026 and 2027 NFL Drafts. Doing so also created a Fort Knox quantity of salary cap space, not only this year's $21 million but a whole bunch more since not having to pay one of the NFL's top pass rushers an average of $46 million over the next four seasons.
Seemed electrifyingly shocking at the time.
But hey, guys get traded all the time. Guys leave in free agency all the time. Guys finish out Pro Bowl careers with another team all the time.
Think about it. The Cowboys sent Herschel Walker to Minnesota. They sent Tony Dorsett to Denver. Emmitt Smith finished the final two years as the NFL career rushing leader he still is with Arizona. The Cowboys cut Everson Walls, second in franchise career interceptions (still), and he ended up winning a Super Bowl with the Giants. The Cowboys cut DeMarcus Ware, the franchise career leader in sacks who then won a Super Bowl in Denver. The Cowboys released Larry Allen, ending up in San Francisco. Nate Newton, too, after 13 seasons to finish up in Carolina. On and on.
And for heaven's sake, the Cowboys released Troy Aikman, who actually wanted to be released earlier that spring of 2001 to have a chance of winning the backup quarterback job in San Diego before retiring.
So Parsons is not the Lone Ranger here.
But there seems to be this perspective out there that Micah is going to be overly revved up to face his former team. As if the fifth-year defensive end/linebacker was disrespected by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' willingness to trade him away after the two sides could not come to an agreement on a long-term extension after nearly six months of negotiations. It happens. Uh, go ask Jadeveon Clowney
But why the animosity?
Didn't Micah as result of the trade get everything he wanted? First, while the negotiations were dragging into a stalemate, Parsons and his agent asked to be traded. And really, it was about at that time the Cowboys decided, as owner Jerry Jones said, to throw some "chum" out there to see just what trading away Parsons might fetch. Evidently quite a bit.
Secondly, when Parsons was initially asked if he needed to become the highest paid player at his position late last season, he said that wasn't important as long as he was paid the money he deserved. And then came the handshake agreement with Jones on an extension, even though the Cowboys were franchising him to retain his rights for the 2025 season as negotiations were continuing.
But when even hearing all that, that being the highest paid defensive end wasn't a must, was thinking, Yeah, that sounds good but wait until the agent hears all about this. Wait until the NFLPA hears all about this. Not going to go over well.
And in the end, even though Jones said he put his best offer on the table and was quoted as saying his offer was "more than you think," that still wasn't enough to reach an extension agreement.
So actually, by being traded, Micah got what he wanted, the highest non-quarterback extension with the $186 million Packers deal, with $136 million guaranteed added to the $21 million he already was on the books for. Meaning, over five years he would average just north of $41 million a year.
Again, what's to be mad about? The trade actually enabled him to get exactly what he wanted. Just had to move to Green Bay to play for a Super Bowl contending team coming out of the gates at 2-1. OK?
Not as if he was sent to Carolina. Not as if he was banished to the North Pole. And so far, Micah has taken the high road this week, even when asked if he thought he deserved some sort of video tribute upon Sunday night's return.
"No, there's a lot of things I can consider disrespectful throughout this process, but I wouldn't say the tribute is one of them," Parsons said earlier in the week. "I would say I just think there's hard feelings maybe there for them. But for me, I'm happy where I'm at, and we got a really good football team, so I guess I can (receive) my tribute in a win, I hope."
Even his Packers quarterback, Jordan Love, who by the way married this summer Ronika Stone, daughter of Cowboys former offensive lineman Ron Stone (1993-95), weighed in on if Micah's return to play the Cowboys has been a distraction, saying, "But for the rest of us, just focus on another week of going 1-0."
Funny, same thing Clark said about having to play his former team after spending nine years with the Packers before being shocked by the unsuspected trade to Dallas.
"At the end of the day, we are trying to go 1-0," Clark said. "It's not about me."
So far, Clark has been everything the Cowboys could have hoped for, anchoring a much-improved run defense, already in three games with 10 tackles, a sack and 10 QB pressures. Like, not bad for a guy considered a nose tackle.
As for Micah, his three three-game total reads 5 tackles, 1½ sacks and 6 QB hits. And per Next Gen Stats, he's second in the NFL with 19 QB pressures. A sack of Dak Prescott, as "painful" as he says that might be and something Dak says he doesn't relish experiencing, would make him Micah's 26th career QB victim.
And as pointed out on Wednesday, Jones denied trading Micah away had become personnel, as if AI probably would have had him mouthing, "Well, I'll show that ungrateful so and so for turning his back on our deal" as the impetus for the trade.
Of course, while Cowboys fans – seated among, we're guessing, an overabundant number of Cheeseheads infiltrating AT&T – will be cringing Sunday night over Micah potentially riddling the Cowboys' injured offensive line with sacks, and guarantee you the NBC national television broadcast will be all over this Retribution Return, both of these teams and coaching staffs have more prominent items on their minds.
"So look, Micah's a great player," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "Micah's going to make plays. I'll just put that out there. Like, Micah's going to make plays. Does he get a sack? I hope not, but he might. He's pretty good.
"But I think our guys will go in knowing we've got a good plan. It takes more than one guy to block Micah, but let's not forget Rashan Gary is a helluva rusher too. This is a defense that's got incredible speed with (Edgerrin) Cooper and (Quay) Walker and Micah and Rashan. I mean, they're deep and they're fast."
Got that right, and that "plan" better be a good one, loaded with a double scoop of offensive tackle help to prevent Parsons from ruining an offense the way he could routinely ruin a training camp practice. Not only that, those tackles and guards better be prepared for Packers defensive tackles to pick off the Cowboys tackles in order to free up Micah to loop in or attack the edge.
All that while knowing the Cowboys offense is having to play without No. 1 wideout CeeDee Lamb, center Cooper Beebe and guard Tyler Booker. Meaning, there are a whole lot of backups trying to compensate for those losses on a 1-2 team that's struggling on defense and needing to rely on its offense for success. Yet, still trying to go 1-0 on Sunday.
Let's also remember, the Packers have problems on their offensive line, where they could have three guys missing. Starting offensive tackle Zack Tom and his backup Anthony Belton have been ruled out and starting guard Aaron Banks is doubtful.
So the show must go on, and I'd expect somewhere along the line Micah will get a standing ovation, and there will be some backslaps and hugs to go around. Maybe some much needed miked-up sound. But competitors will be competitors. Raw winning the only thing that matters.
And after all, as Dak said, "This is the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Green Bay Packers, and we've got to go get a win."
That I understand.
