Micah Parsons has officially requested a trade, and the Dallas Cowboys would be incredibly foolish to even think about it. Parsons is arguably the best defender in the NFL and is just 26 years old without a lot of wear and tear (sat out the 2020 season due to COVID) on his body.
They have the league’s best defense with him on the field and, according to Bill Barnwell, the second worst when he’s off it.
But what if the Cowboys come to the conclusion that they need to trade Parsons? What if Parsons is serious with his trade request and never wants to play for the Cowboys again? How would they even go about a potential trade? And what would that deal even look like for the Cowboys?
Cowboys would need king's ransom return to trade Micah Parsons
Let’s assume the Cowboys have made the (wrong) decision to move Parsons via trade. The first thing we have to assume is that they would want to move him out of the NFC. The last thing that they would want is to face Parsons each year and there is almost no scenario in which they would trade him inside the division.
If an NFC team offered three first-round picks compared to just two by an AFC team, the front office would obviously have to consider that. But assuming the trade offers are even somewhat close, you would have to assume Dallas would want to move him to an AFC squad.
Now that that is out of the way, the Cowboys would be wise to search for a trade partner that could potentially select inside the top 15 over the next few years. The only way the Cowboys would trade Parsons is if they could acquire multiple first-round picks, like the Raiders did when they traded away Khalil Mack to the Bears. So it’s critical that they find a trade partner where they could potentially pick inside the top half of the draft.
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Trading Parsons to teams like the Ravens, Chiefs, and Bills doesn’t make sense as all three of those teams have won double-digit games in each of the past three seasons. Adding Parsons to their defenses would ensure that they would pick in the late-20s, early 30s, which would decrease the trade compensation for Dallas. Even other contenders like the Broncos and Chargers would be locks to win 10+ games with Parsons in their respective lineups.
But that’s the tricky part here. If the Cowboys were to trade Parsons, whichever team acquires him will instantly improve on defense and thus raise its ceiling. But there are a few teams in tough divisions who still wouldn’t be sure bets to make the playoffs.
Teams like the Raiders, Colts, Patriots, and Jets would all significantly improve with Parsons, but still could have a tough time making the postseason. Those four teams are examples of whom the Cowboys would want to trade with in this hypothetical scenario.
Dallas could also ask for young players back in a trade (Breece Hall, for example), but draft picks would be the safer option here. The Cowboys aren’t going to be better in 2025 (or even 2026) without Parsons, so acquiring draft capital to start their defensive rebuild would be the wise way to go.
If the team was to move Parsons, the wise decision would be to pay their offensive stars (George Pickens and Tyler Smith) and use the excess draft capital over the next two seasons to rebuild the defense. The money they have saved for Parsons could be used to stabilize the offense, and the defense would quickly be among the cheapest in the league.
This is obviously far from the best-case scenario for Dallas, and it makes sense for both parties to get a deal done. But if the Cowboys ultimately decide to take this path, expect them to follow this blueprint to get a deal done.