The Dallas Cowboys will never live down trading Micah Parsons unless the resources acquired in the deal somehow propel Jerry Jones' team to a Super Bowl in the near future.
Trading Parsons is tough to put into perspective by itself. But dealing him to the Green Bay Packers, arguably Dallas' foremost bogeyman over the last 15 years, who are seemingly on the doorstep of reaching a Super Bowl, made it all the more indefensible. The only thing that could've made the situation worse is if Jones dealt Parsons to the Philadelphia Eagles.
If it's any consolation, Jones was never going to trade Parsons to Philly, and a report from ESPN's Adam Schefter on Sunday morning proves that.
Per Schefter, the Cowboys included a "poison pill" into the trade that states if Green Bay decided to trade Parsons to a team in the NFC East, then it would owe Dallas its 2028 first-round draft pick.
Cowboys at least managed to screw the Eagles in panned Micah Parsons trade
This is significant because the Eagles tried to trade for Parsons over the summer while Parsons and Jones were entrenched in their contract standoff.
It stands to reason that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who purportedly would've dealt three first-round picks to Cleveland for Myles Garrett, would swoop in again if Green Bay somehow entertained the idea of dealing Parsons. While it's doubtful that the Packers would move off Parsons, at least the Dallas front office went out of its way to prevent Parsons from playing for the Eagles.
What makes all of this even more interesting is that the "poison pill" condition was also used on Kenny Clark. Per Schefter, if the Cowboys trade Clark to a team in the NFC North, they would owe Green Bay their 2028 first-round pick.
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It's within the realm of possibility that Dallas tries to get out of Clark's contract in the offseason. Following the trade for Quinnen Williams, the Cowboys will have over $60 million committed to the defensive tackle position in 2026. If they cut or trade Clark with a post-June 1 designation, they would save $21 million in cap space without inheriting a penny in dead money.
A release is more likely than a trade, but the NFL is unpredictable. If nothing else, Cowboys fans should keep this in the back of their mind once the offseason rolls around.
Back to the Parsons of it all, while the pettiness from Jones to prevent Parsons from landing with the Eagles is almost admirable, if he was that worried about where he might wind up in the future, maybe try setting the ego aside and get an extension done?
Just a thought.