Getty
Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons
Even though the season didn’t end the way Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers hoped, both sides appear happy to now be aligned.
Parsons was traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Packers just before the start of the 2025 regular season. The former All-Pro had reached a contract standoff with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones that became increasingly public and tense.
Ultimately, Jones and the Cowboys dealt Parsons to Green Bay in exchange for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks in 2026 and 2027.
Dallas struggled to generate consistent quarterback pressure throughout the season and missed the playoffs. The Packers reached the postseason but did so without Parsons for much of the year after he tore his ACL.
Still, the entire sequence of events could have unfolded very differently — with Parsons nearly wearing another shade of green.
Micah Parsons Nearly Landed in Philadelphia
Like many top players around the league, Parsons made the media rounds during Super Bowl LX week. While appearing on the Bleacher Report Gridiron podcast alongside Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young and Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, he revealed he was close to joining the Eagles.
“It was very close,” Parsons said. “Eagles, before the Jaelan Phillips, before all of them, it was me. And I was really about to come but there was one person that I had to play with that if he was gone I did not want to be there. And that was Jalen Carter.
“They wanted a D-tackle and they wanted to trade me plus some picks. I mean, I don’t really care about the picks — but I’m coming to play next to J.C. You feel me?”
The Cowboys ultimately landed Clark, but Carter would have been a significant pick up. Just three years into his career, Carter is widely considered one of the top interior defensive linemen in the NFL.
In 2025, he recorded three sacks, seven pass deflections and 12 quarterback hits, earning his second consecutive Pro Bowl selection.
Phillips was traded to Philadelphia from the Miami Dolphins in November just before the trade deadline.
What Could Have Been For Packers, Cowboys, Eagles
The trade from Dallas to Green Bay may have worked out best for all parties — especially the Cowboys.
Had Jones traded Parsons within the NFC East to a division rival like Philadelphia, the backlash would have been fierce, even if Carter had come in return.
That scenario would have meant facing Parsons twice a season for the foreseeable future — a constant reminder of what Dallas gave up each time he lined up across from its quarterback.
Then again, if Parsons had landed in Philadelphia, perhaps the ACL injury that sidelined him in Green Bay never happens. Maybe the Eagles are the team representing the NFC in the Super Bowl instead of the Seattle Seahawks, who are attempting to repeat as champions.
Instead, Philadelphia was eliminated in the Wild Card round by the San Francisco 49ers, 23-19. The Packers were also bounced in the opening round, falling to the Chicago Bears, 31-27 — without Parsons.
The 26-year-old edge rusher is targeting a return in late September or early October, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman.
“In September I want to be at a really good spot,” Parsons said. “So far, they say I’m fine. So whatever that means. There’s a timing standpoint they want. I don’t think I’ll be on IR to start the season. I think, lofty, I’d be saying Week 1. But realistically, probably like Week 3, Week 4, just to make sure and just getting back into football.”
Shane Shoemaker Shane Shoemaker is a sports journalist covering college football and the NFL for Heavy.com. His work has also appeared in The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, USA TODAY, and ClutchPoints, along with high school sports coverage for the Marion Tribune. More about Shane Shoemaker
More Heavy on Packers
Loading more stories