Micah Parsons New Development Packers Trade Rumors
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Cowboys All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons.
The Detroit Lions have had a stranglehold on the NFC North, winning the division title for two consecutive years, including an undefeated divisional record last season.
However, a lot can change in a single day.
After the Lions were preseason favorites to three-peat as NFC North champions, the Green Bay Packers swung a blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons, catapulting the Packers to the betting favorites to win the division crown.
There was disbelief that the Dallas Cowboys would even trade Parsons, let alone to another team in the conference.
That’s led to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell begging the question of how this happened. He argued that the Lions missed the opportunity and must now deal with the repercussions at least twice a year.
“I admit that I’m a little surprised there weren’t other teams willing to top this offer,” Barnwell wrote, referring to the package of two first-round picks and Kenny Clark. “One obvious team comes to mind. Lions general manager Brad Holmes came from the Rams, who were wildly aggressive in adding superstar players like Parsons and believed the late-first-round picks they were likely to send in return were overvalued. Plus, the Lions have one of the most complete rosters in the NFL, and their biggest question mark on defense is across from Aidan Hutchinson.
“Maybe Detroit thought it wouldn’t be able to afford Hutchinson and Parsons together, especially with Hutchinson’s market now likely to rise as a result of the Parsons deal. But if there was any team in the league that could have seen adding Parsons as the all-in move to win a title, wouldn’t it have been the Lions? (And now they will be facing a tougher division after the trade.)”
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The Packers have a three-year window before the roster must be torn down by the cap constraints of Jordan Love and Parsons’ contracts.
In the final affordable year of Jared Goff’s contract, Detroit had the inside lane to another top seed in the NFC playoffs.
However, Green Bay just made the division and conference much more contentious.
The Lions will be adjusting to having a new coordinator and play-caller on each side of the ball, and have seen the entire NFC North make massive improvements after last season.
Goff is due for an extension by next offseason, with his 2026 salary guaranteed at $55 million.
Meanwhile, Hutchinson will be entering the fifth-year option of his rookie deal and will look to reset the non-quarterback market as Parsons just did with his four-year, $188 million extension.
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GettyLions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
Just hours before Parsons’ record-breaking deal, The Detroit Free Press reported that Holmes had conversations with Hutchinson about a contract extension.
“We have had dialogue that has started and so we’ll just kind of see where it goes,” Holmes said, per the Detroit Free Press. “But in terms of the level of importance, yeah, that has not changed. Aidan’s very important.”
Parsons will be looking for a deal that resets the market again, at least worth $48 million in average annual value.
But like the Packers have done, cap gymnastics can help lower the cap hits in the first few years; the Lions can do the same.
That should open up the potential to re-sign Goff, build up the roster and keep one of the league’s most dominant game-breakers on the edge.
The plus that the Lions have over the Packers in this situation is their ability to build through the draft.