The Micah Parsons saga is officially over, but nobody in their right mind would have guessed that this would be the conclusion. On Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for a package of two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
Of course, this comes as a huge shock. Even after Parsons' well-documented hold-in while he waited for a new contract extension and his trade request made during training camp, it seemed highly unlikely that it would ever get to this point.
Parsons did get the contract extension that he was looking for from Green Bay, inking a four-year, $188 million deal with the Packers that should have him ready to go for Week 1. Now that Parsons is officially a Packer, it's safe to say the calculus in the NFC has changed dramatically.
So, how did both teams end up in this deal? Let's grade each side in one of the biggest NFL trades in recent memory.
Packers become a Super Bowl favorite with Micah Parsons addition
The Packers already came into this season with very high expectations, but they were still a fringe Super Bowl contender and comfortably behind the Eagles as the favorite in the NFC. If you were to pinpoint one thing that Green Bay needed to make the jump into the top tier, it would have been a true difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball.
Now, they have that with one of, if not the best pass rusher in the league in Parsons. For his career, the Penn State product has 52.5 sacks and 63 tackles for loss and is one of two players, along with Reggie White, to get to 12 or more sacks in each of his first four seasons. He has been named an All Pro three times and was unquestionably the best defensive player in football during the back half of last season after coming back from an ankle injury.
This is an all-in move for the Packers, who lose a key piece in the middle in Clark and vital draft capital in the coming years, but the addition of Parsons makes this a truly fearsome squad on both sides of the ball. Green Bay can now get after the quarterback with the best of them, and that will pay dividends in December and January.
Green Bay also got the extension done for Parsons, which puts him under contract until 2030 with the Packers. That gives them a distinct Super Bowl window to compete for a title, and that is ultimately what makes this deal a home run.
Grade: A+
Cowboys play with fire in another contract dispute and finally get burned
Jerry Jones, what the f**k man?
In truth, the Cowboys have been asking this for a few years now. The Parsons saga during training camp and the preseason sounded all too familiar. It was almost the same thing that happened to Dak Prescott a few years back and to CeeDee Lamb last season. The thought was that, like in those situations, that Parsons would sign an extension before Week 1 and everything would be dandy.
Well, that isn't the case, and now the Cowboys are watching one of the best defensive players of this generation walk out the door.
Getting a couple of firsts and Kenny Clark is nice. Clark actually fills a big need for this Cowboys team at defensive tackle, arguably the worst position group on the roster. But who is going to get after the quarterback? Dante Fowler Jr. has carved out a nice role in the league as a designated pass rusher, but outside of him it's Marshawn Kneeland, James Houston and Sam Williams coming off of an injury. That doesn't sound promising.
As for the first-rounders, the Packers were already a team picking in the early 20s in the draft. Where will they be after acquiring Parsons? Probably in the late 20s, if not the 30s. That severely diminishes the value of those picks that Dallas will need to restock the cupboard on defense.
On top of that, there's no way that the guys in the locker room who are trying to win and compete for championships, like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, are happy with this. Not only does this hurt the Cowboys' chances of competing this season, but it makes this defense almost totally absent of star power and makes it hard to see them contending in the next few years as well.
The laughs that you hear are coming from Philadelphia and Washington D.C. — and maybe New York, though the Giants have their own problems to worry about. The Cowboys' front office has been a laughing stock when it comes to taking care of their star players for years now, and this is the cherry on top.
Grade: F
