When the Dallas Cowboys decided to trade away Micah Parsons nearly a full year ago, everybody thought Jerry Jones was crazy.
Parsons is a five-time Pro Bowler, a three-time first-team All-Pro honoree, and has racked up 65 career sacks at just 27 years old. Only Reggie White, J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, and Derrick Thomas had more sacks through the first five seasons of their NFL careers. He was a generational talent and the face of the Cowboys franchise.
But 12 months later, Jones isn’t regretting any of it.
Read More on News
“Even though Micah’s an outstanding talent [that] anybody would like to have, the bottom line is that I like what the result of the trade has ended up as I stand here today,” Jones said Thursday, comparing the deal to the Cowboys’ blockbuster 1989 trade of star running back Herschel Walker.
“You could say those picks got us key players, but the main thing that the Herschel Walker trade did, it caused me to be more aggressive and caused us to, if you will, take more risk because we had more picks,” Jones said. “But the fact that we revamped our defense, that was an instigator toward that attitude: ‘Let’s come in here and change this up, let’s get rush from the interior, let’s be stronger on the run in the interior with an emphasis on those guys in the middle.’ That’s not an accident. That’s what you see out there from the inside.”
“So, in a way,” Jones added, “this actually created a mental part to us and to my role in it with me, to step out and make the moves and take, if you will, risks that are involved to be where we are today with a complete makeover of the defense.”
More news: Troy Aikman Addresses Conflict of Interest with Dolphins, ESPN Roles
More news: Brian Thomas’ Future With Jaguars in Doubt as New WR1 Emerges
When Jones traded Walker in ’89, he was coming off back-to-back Pro Bowl nods with the Cowboys and was viewed as one of the best running backs in football. Jones nonetheless landed a massive haul in return, including five players — Jesse Solomon, Issiac Holt, Darrin Nelson, David Howard, and Alex Stewart — along with a number of future draft picks.
Those five players were later cut or traded to acquire additional conditional draft selections. Dallas used the picks it received to build one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history, drafting or trading for stars like Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Clayton Holmes, Kevin Smith, and Darren Woodson — a core that helped the Cowboys win three Super Bowls.
The Parsons trade, by comparison, saw Dallas receive three-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark, along with first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, which the franchise then used to trade for All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and draft first-round talent Malachi Lawrence. That’s three new pillars on the defense who, if history repeats itself, could help fuel another championship run in Dallas.
More news: Broncos Set for Critical QB Battle in Preseason Opener as Bo Nix Sits