If the smoke is real about the Green Bay Packers having interest in trading for Dallas Cowboys superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons before the 2025 season, then they might need to start imagining life without one of their other stars.
The Packers have emerged as potential trade suitors for Parsons, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, in the three weeks since he formally requested a trade from the Cowboys.
Parsons, 26, had been seeking a big-money contract extension from the Cowboys, but he grew frustrated with their lack of communication during negotiations and pulled the plug, writing on social media on August 1 that he “no longer” wants to stay in Dallas.
While most of the speculation about Parsons and the Packers has amounted to social media rumors, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport gave some credibility to the rumors on Monday when he told “The Pat McAfee Show” that he believes the Packers would be “really interested” in Parsons if the Cowboys were to make him available for trade.
Building off the rumors, Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay proposed a blockbuster trade for the Packers that would land them Parsons. In exchange, they would give the Cowboys their first- and third-round picks in 2026, their second- and fourth-round picks in 2027 and starting defensive end Rashan Gary — a former first-round pick in his own right.
“The Packers have been on the cusp of contending for several years, but lack a generational talent like Parsons to anchor their defensive front,” Kay wrote Thursday. “If they are willing to give up a package that includes multiple Day 1 and 2 picks — as well as a quality talent such as Rashan Gary — it could be enough to get Dallas to move on from Parsons this offseason.”
Micah Parsons is Too Good to Ignore His Trade Request
The Packers have been generally reluctant to make trades to acquire veteran players during general manager Brian Gutekunst’s eight-year tenure, but Parsons — who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory — could prove the exception, given their urgency to contend.
Parsons is one of the finest defensive talents in the NFL in 2025, using his elite blend of size, strength, length and instincts to hunt quarterbacks from the trenches and doing so at a highly productive rate. He has recorded no fewer than 12 sacks in each of his four seasons with the Cowboys, hitting a career-low 12 in 2024 but missing three games.
Parsons also finished fifth among edge rushers in quarterback pressures (70) in 2024, another feather in his cap during the only season in which he missed meaningful time.
Needless to say, the Packers would benefit tremendously from having an edge rusher like Parsons. They have four former first-round picks on their defensive line between edge rushers Gary and Lukas Van Ness and defensive tackles Kenny Clark and Devonte Wyatt, but they struggled to consistently pressure opposing quarterbacks in 2024.
The Packers are currently readying to run it back with the same unit in 2025, hoping for better results in the second year of defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s 4-3 system. But with Parsons issuing a trade request, it might suit them better to take advantage of their financial situation and do what it takes to add a perennial Pro Bowler to their roster.
Packers Are Ideal Landing Spot for Micah Parsons
To land Parsons, the Packers would need to mortgage their future. Kay’s predicted trade compensation seems lower than what the Cowboys might realistically seek. They should set their base asking price at two first-round picks at a minimum, even if an inquiring team includes a veteran player — such as the Packers offering them Rashan Gary.
The Packers would also need to have a plan in place to resolve Parsons’ contract issues. The league’s four highest-paid edge rushers are making at least $35 million annually, while the top two, T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett, make north of $40 million per season.
According to Over the Cap, the Packers have roughly $31.5 million in cap space in 2025 to help them get a deal done with Parsons. They would also shed Gary’s $96 million contract from their books if they took Kay’s suggestion and shipped him off to Dallas.
No doubt, it would be an all-chips-to-the-center-of-the-table move for the Packers with how much draft capital and cap space it would cost them. But as Rapoport phrased it, Parsons is “worth all the money” if the Packers feel like he is their “one final piece.”
“They have money to spend, and they are really good,” Rapoport said Monday on The Pat McAfee Show. “That’s the kind of team that I would say, if Micah was going to be traded, that he would be going to. We need one final piece. This guy is an absolute dog. He’s worth all the money, so pay him all the money … but it’d be worth it, because you get Micah Parsons.”
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