Sportsnaut
This year’s NFL trade deadline has passed, and it featured a lot of last-minute action. While the Dallas Cowboys made multiple moves, their biggest one came just before the season started, when they traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for two first-round picks, plus Kenny Clark.
The Parsons trade wasn’t just shocking; it also features a rare “poison pill” that has only recently been made public.
According to ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter, the Cowboys made it a point to include a poison pill that blocked a future Parsons trade to their other NFC East division rivals. This is especially notable because the Eagles did try trading for Parsons too.
If the Packers suddenly wake up one day and feel inclined to trade Parsons to the Eagles, Commanders or Giants, then Dallas would receive an additional first-round pick in 2028. Furthermore, if the Cowboys trade Kenny Clark to one of the Packers’ NFL North divisional opponents, then Green Bay would receive a first-round pick from Dallas in 2028.
In other words, neither team wants to match up with the Pro Bowl player they traded away twice per season.
Of course, this is not the first time and likely not the last time the poison pill provision was used. The Packers previously did this when trading Brett Favre to the Jets, because they wanted to prevent their Hall of Fame QB from joining the Vikings. It didn’t matter. The Jets released Favre one year later, and he signed with the Packers’ rivals anyway, and the rest is history.
Related: NFL Power Rankings 2025: Week-by-Week NFL Evaluations of All 32 Teams
More must-reads:
