Sportsnaut
Micah Parsons didn’t want to leave the Dallas Cowboys. In a perfect world, he would have agreed to a contract extension that kept him in Texas for several years to come.
Unfortunately, that’s not the way this worked out.
Parsons, headed into the final year of his contract, had been trying to negotiate a long-term extension with the Cowboys for over a year now. He even returned to the negotiation table with the Cowboys earlier this week.
According to NFL Media’s Jane Slater, Parsons felt remorse for the Cowboys after trade rumors involving the two-time All-Pro leaked. As a result, he returned with a new mindset, feeling “empathy” for the Cowboys and wanting to find a quick resolution.
Yet, the Cowboys still weren’t ready to play ball. They responded to Parsons by hitting him with an ultimatum: either play on his current fifth-year player option or leave. He apparently chose option B.
I spoke with Micah Parsons this evening. He says “genuinely gonna miss ya’ll”
He says he and his team went back to the Cowboys about an extension with “empathy” when the trade interest was leaked this week.
The Cowboys response according to Parsons was “play on the 5th year…
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) August 28, 2025
While the Cowboys had trouble agreeing on proper contract value, the Green Bay Packers had no issues quickly signing Parsons to a four-year, $188 million contract. It’s a heavy price to pay, both in trade by parting with two first-round picks plus a Pro Bowl player in defensive tackle Kenny Clark, but no one would argue that the Cowboys got worse and the Packers got better before Week 1.
After the trade, the Cowboys spoke of stressing the importance of stopping the run, which Clark will now help them with. But who will replace the 52.5 sacks Parsons compiled over the past four seasons?
Perhaps those additional first-round picks can help the Cowboys net multiple Pro Bowl or even All-Pro players as Parsons was. But for now, it’s hard not to feel some level of remorse for Cowboys fans hoping this would be the year they ended their nearly 30-year drought without a Super Bowl win. Of course, some teams have never won, so the Cowboys are still ahead, in that sense.
Related: Micah Parsons Filed Grievance Against Dallas Cowboys; Why?
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