One week after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones labeled trade talk around his All-Pro pass-rusher “pure B.S.,” Dallas shipped Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
The Packers sent three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and first-round draft picks in 2026 and 2027 to the Cowboys in the blockbuster trade.
Parsons and Jones dug in over a contract the Packers immediately addressed with a four-year, $188 million extension that includes $136 million guaranteed, according to multiple reports.
The deal makes Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. His $47 million annual average easily surpasses the contract extension pass-rusher T.J. Watt signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which averages $41 million per year.
Parsons, who requested a trade on Aug. 1, confirmed the trade on his social media when he wrote, “Thank you Dallas … GO Pack Go!,” with both teams sending out media releases later in the day.
In an evening press conference, Jones stressed the importance of personal relationships in his negotiations with players, citing a deal he reached with former Cowboys star receiver Michael Irvin.
“People evolve,” Jones said. “I’ve had more grace than any person I know of.
“This is significant, the financial consideration,” he added. “The issue here was starting over after I had dug deep (to negotiate a deal).”
Parsons will visit Dallas in a Green Bay uniform in Week 4 for “Sunday Night Football.”
Signs of irreconciliable differences dotted the preseason and reports surfaced earlier Thursday that the Cowboys were finally willing to listen to trade offers for the 26-year-old.
The seismic deal comes four weeks after Parsons posted his trade request on social media, writing, “I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys.” He claimed that Jones turned a March conversation into a chat about future contract parameters, and when Parsons later told Jones that agent David Mulugheta would reach out to get the deal done, Jones claimed it already was done before giving him the cold shoulder.
Jones, who made clear he prefers to talk contracts directly with his players and not their paid representatives or agents, stated publicly that he and Parsons agreed to the parameters of a deal in the spring. ESPN pegged the terms of the five-year extension at an average of $40.5 million per season.
Parsons had not participated in a full practice since the end of the 2024 season and held out throughout camp. More recently, he eliminated references and images containing the Cowboys and their logo from his social media accounts.
Parsons played the first four years of his career with the Cowboys, racking up 52.5 sacks in 63 games and never finishing a season with fewer than 12. Before the trade and extension, he was slated to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract for $21.342 million.
Green Bay adds a premier defensive player to a front seven already considered among the best in the NFL as it prepares to make a run at dethroning Detroit in the NFC North.
Clark, 29, made 126 starts in his 140-game career spent entirely in Green Bay. A Pro Bowler in 2019, 2021 and 2023, Clark has amassed 417 tackles (51 for loss), 35 sacks, 76 quarterback hits, seven forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries.
“We want to thank Kenny for the incredible impact he made in the locker room, on the field and in the community during his nine seasons in Green Bay,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “From the time he arrived in 2016, Kenny established himself as one of the top defensive tackles in the league and in the history of this franchise with his production, durability and leadership. He had the respect of everyone in the organization and epitomized what it meant to be a Green Bay Packer. Kenny will be greatly missed, and we wish him and his family nothing but the best in the future.”
–Field Level Media
