The Cowboys' stunning decision to trade All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons on Thursday ahead of his fifth NFL season reverberated throughout the league and the aftershocks will be felt for years. In the present, though, there is one persistent question: Why?
Why did Dallas trade a young, star player to a rival franchise who recently annihilated them in the playoffs? Why did the Cowboys do this in August after months of reassurance that it was all part of the process from the front office? Why didn't they do it earlier in the offseason when the consequences of Parsons's loss could be accounted for ahead of the new season?
In the days since the trade, owner and GM Jerry Jones has leaned on one primary explanation: the Parsons trade was necessary to help the Cowboys stop the run. He went long on that reasoning in his first press conference, stating that swapping Parsons for incoming defensive tackle Kenny Clark would improve Dallas's run defense. Fans didn't really buy it; neither did analysts.
Still, Jones seems like he'll be repeating that aspect of the calculus for a while yet. On Saturday he was interviewed by NFL Network's Tommy Yarrish and said, again, that while Parsons is a great player he believes the Cowboys are better off with a run-stopper.
"Our player that we got (Clark) is outstanding," Jones told Yarrish. "We knew that, and he'll immediately start making plays for us here when we get up there against those Philadelphia Eagles. But the most important thing is we really wanted to stop the run. And Micah's a wonderful football player, we think this gives us a better chance to stop the run. Other teams knew that, and they threw the ball out quick and they ran against us when we had Micah and they're really emphasizing pass rush."
The Cowboys were indeed one of the worst teams in the league against the run last season and their recent playoff failures reflect a lack of ability to stand their ground against the opponent's run game. But to imply it's entirely a Parsons issue that is getting fixed by swapping out his talents for a more traditional run defender in Clark is a different matter.
Ultimately Jones may wind up right and Dallas will improve against the run this upcoming season. The question is if that's worth losing Parsons's double-digit sack production and the threat he represents that offenses no longer must account for. It feels dubious that will play out in the Cowboys' favor.
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