Micah Parsons was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys 12th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft from the Penn State Nittany Lions. He was a gamechanger on Dallas’s defense for the first four seasons in the NFL. After the 2024 NFL season, Parsons was unhappy with the way contract negotiations were going with the team. He decided to request a trade and then he was shipped to the Green Bay Packers.
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Sep 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) walks off the field after the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Parsons once again showed his strength in 2025 with Green Bay, but he suffered a torn ACL late in the season against the Denver Broncos. Parsons recorded 12 or more sacks with Dallas during his first four seasons in the NFL before being traded to the Packers. Despite only being on the team for four seasons, did he make the best Cowboys players list on defense over the last 20 seasons?
PFF Ranks Micah Parsons as One of Dallas Cowboys Best Edge Rushers Over the Last 20 Years In the NFL
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Sep 28, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (7) exchange jerseys after the game at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Profootballfocus.com writer Nathan Jahnke created the Cowboys best offensive players and defensive players team over the last 20 seasons. The Cowboys have a lot of personalities on the defensive side of the football. At edge rusher, Demarcus Ware and Parsons made the list. Ware was one of the best edge rushers this franchise has ever seen.
Parsons was living up to the hype during his first four years with the team and was on his way to being one of the franchise’s greats had he decided to stay. Well, this didn’t stop Jahnke from listing Parsons as one of the best edge rushers this franchise has seen over the last 20 seasons. He said,
“The defining strength of the Cowboys’ defense over the past two decades has been its edge defenders. Dallas transitioned seamlessly from Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware to DeMarcus Lawrence, a four-time Pro Bowler who anchored the position for more than a decade, and then to Micah Parsons, whose two first-team All-Pro selections in his first four NFL seasons have already cemented him among the league’s elite. Lawrence’s longevity made the decision close, but Parsons’ peak ultimately proved impossible to overlook.”
The thing is that Parsons is already 27 years old. Even though he is no longer on the Cowboys, he will be coming off a torn ACL and may not be ready for the 2026 NFL season for Green Bay. With that being said, during his four years with the Cowboys, the most games he ever missed with that team was four during the 2024 NFL season. Parsons was always making plays for Dallas on defense week in and week out.
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