Micah Parsons Trade Behind-The Scenes

In a big behind-the-scenes article from ESPN about how the Cowboys ended up trading DE Micah Parsons to the Packers, the root of the split was traced to a meeting in mid-March between Parsons and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones where the two ended up negotiating a contract extension.
Both sides had different accounts of what the meeting was supposed to be for, per ESPN. A source close to Parsons said Jones called Parsons in for a leadership meeting, only to steer the conversation toward contract talks. A Dallas source said Parsons asked for the meeting and Jones thought it was about his contract: “Jerry and Micah had met periodically over the last four years to discuss business and leadership issues. Jerry loved having these discussions with Micah. But the meeting in March wasn’t that, despite Micah saying publicly later it was to discuss leadership. Micah told Jerry, ‘I want to come in and discuss where we are,’ meaning a contract extension. So that was Jerry’s expectation.”
The two sides met for three hours and discussed numbers, years and guaranteed money, according to ESPN. ESPN says Jones believed the deal was done when Parsons left his office, but the player called EVP Stephen Jones later that day, per a team source: “[Parsons] called Stephen and asked can we do this, can we change the numbers and up the guarantee. He started negotiating. He asked for several different elements and increases. This became a negotiation that Micah was in charge of.”
Jerry Jones agreed to the sweetened terms and the net result was a five-year deal resetting the market for edge rushers at the time above Browns DE Myles Garrett at $40 million a year. ESPN says Cowboys sources continue to claim they offered “north of $150 million” in guarantees, more than the $136 million guaranteed Parsons eventually got from the Packers.
However, that deal broke down when Parsons’ agent, David Mulugheta, didn’t rubber stamp the deal Parsons and Jones had agreed to. Jones said in an interview: “We were going to send [the terms] over to the agent and the agent said don’t bother because we’ve got all that to negotiate.”
ESPN reports Parsons’ agency says it still hasn’t seen the full terms of the contract Jones negotiated directly with Parsons, and that Jones and Mulugheta never truly negotiated. The Cowboys would simply refer back to that contract and say Parsons could accept it if he wanted. However, Parsons’ team reportedly wanted to wait for the edge rusher market to develop and then blow past it as prices continued to rise. As that happened, ESPN says Jones became more comfortable with the idea of parting with Parsons and redistributing those resources across the roster.
A source close to Jones says the owner felt entrenched because “Micah looked him in his eyes and said we have a deal,” adding Jones didn’t want to have to re-negotiate from a position of weakness with Mulugheta: “Oh so that’s how they are going to do it. Micah is going to negotiate with us, we’re going to go up, we’re going to have an agreement, and then the agent says that’s the floor and we’re going to go from there? Jerry was like, ‘Hell no. That’s not the way this is going to work.’”
ESPN reports the Cowboys did not externally explore trades for Parsons before the draft because they held out hope of extending him and because they prefer to do big trades after the draft anyway because they think other teams are more open to parting with players.
The report goes on to say that the price for Parsons crystallized in Jones’ mind about a week before the trade. Dallas sources also privately reiterated what Jones said publicly about needing to be better in run defense as a rationale for trading Parsons: “For Jerry, it came back to we have got to be able to stop the run. Micah does not do that. In fact, because we couldn’t stop the run, it made Micah less effective. Then they’re going to run right at him, and that’s not what he does. We could not take care of mission critical.”
A team source told ESPN that desire to improve the run defense made DT Kenny Clark a must-have in the trade, and that Dallas sees him as a multi-year solution: “From our perspective, it had to include Kenny Clark. The only way it worked for us, we need something that helps us now and helps us in the future.”
Parsons participated in team-building activities this offseason and was at least a partial attendee at OTAs as an attempted show of good faith. He also reported to training camp, though it became clear he wasn’t going to practice without a new deal. ESPN notes what seemed to trigger his explosive statement and trade request on August 1 was comments by Jones that Parsons took as “repeated shots,” including questioning his durability and noting fans didn’t seem to be chanting “Pay Micah” as much as they were chanting “Pay Lamb” the year before.
There were some varying reports on whether teammates felt Parsons’ contract situation became a distraction, with some calling his energy “deflating” during the process and noting the weird incident where he laid down on a table during a preseason game. Others thought Parsons was engaged in meetings and was clearly working to stay in shape for the season to play.
Multiple team sources told ESPN they thought Parsons sincerely wanted to stay in Dallas: “I think he felt he was going to play out his career there.”
Two days before the trade was finalized, at which point Dallas had serious resolve about moving on, Mulugheta sent an email to the Jones’ in a last-ditch effort to restart talks, saying they were ready to make a hard charge to hammer something out. Jones responded and said if Parsons wanted to play for the Cowboys in 2025, it would have to be on his fifth-year option without a new deal.
From there, Mulugheta got permission to talk to the Packers on Tuesday before the trade on Thursday. Those talks came together smoothly, with ESPN noting Mulugheta represented other prominent Packers like QB Jordan Love and S Xavier McKinney.
ESPN mentions if things had fallen apart, at least three other teams were interested in trading for Parsons, though Dallas wouldn’t have dealt him inside the NFC East. ESPN heard from one team that wasn’t interested because it felt the price was too high for a player who might turn out to be a headache, while another believed Parsons wouldn’t be traded until next offseason and might have had interest then.
When appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said six teams were involved in negotiating for Parsons: “There were six that were involved. The Cowboys took what they felt like was the best offer… There’s a bigger picture thought here for Dallas in what they’re doing… When things broke down in the spring, they had a series of conversations about, ‘What are we trying to do here?’ They haven’t been to an NFC Championship game, let alone a Super Bowl, in 29 years. Yet, they are top seven or eight maybe in wins over that same period.”
Breer adds Dallas is looking to build the culture HC Brian Schottenheimer envisions: “With a new head coach, they started to look in the mirror. It was like, ‘If we are getting to a point where we trade Micah Parsons, is there some sort of pivot we want to make here?’ That pivot became really leaning on what Brian Schottenheimer is trying to build. You’ve heard him use the phrase, ‘the greatest culture in professional sports.’ That’s the idea of what they are trying to do there.”
Schottenheimer appeared on 105.3 The Fan, saying Parsons’ trade wasn’t about team culture and had more to do with the future of the organization: “I don’t think it has anything to do with culture. I think it has more to do with what does this look like two years from now? What does this look like after we utilize those first round draft picks?” (Jon Machota)
Schottenheimer said he had good conversations with Parsons through training camp, but there was a “unanimous decision” to trade him: “I try to just limit the distractions and focus on the guys that were out there working. I had great communication and conversations with Micah all throughout training camp. But at the end of the day, this was a unanimous decision. And again, I’m happy for Micah and his family. Obviously, it’s an incredible pay day and I’m looking forward to seeing him before the game in a couple weeks, and then maybe not so much on the field as we get going to play.” (Tommy Yarrish)

Cowboys & David Mulugheta

Parsons’ agent David Mulugheta said on First Take that Parsons never thought he was negotiating a contract with Dallas owner Jerry Jones and doesn’t know why he was kept out of it: “We were always prepared to negotiate a contract with the Jones family.” (Rob Demovsky)
Mulugheta continued: “The most important thing was Micah wanted to be a Cowboy, we did everything we did for him to remain a Cowboy.” (Demovsky)
Mulugheta was asked about Jones’ claim that they told him to “stick it up their ass” after a contract offer: “It might be hard for some to believe, but I don’t think I’ve ever used that phrase in my life. And in my 40-plus years, I definitely wouldn’t use it with somebody that I have to work with, or somebody that I plan on working with in the future. So, no, that wasn’t true.” (Machota)
He continued: “It was a misrepresentation of what I said. What I did tell them was if they believed that the contract was already finalized and they were sending it over to me to be rubber stamped, then they probably shouldn’t send it over.” (Machota)
Mulugheta is also Cowboys WR George Pickens‘ agent, who is entering the final year of his deal: “There’s nothing personal here. It’s a business transaction as far as the contract is concerned. So if George Pickens does what we expect him to do, which is be one of the best receivers in the NFL this year, we’ll have those conversation with the Cowboys. And if they’re open to having that dialogue with us, and negotiating longterm deal, then we’d love for George Pickens to be a star with a star on his helmet. But if that’s not the case, then obviously we’ll see what else is out there for him. But again, this is not going to affect any negotiations moving forward for us.” (Machota)

Cowboys

Following the trade to Green Bay, Packers CB Trevon Diggs gave a quick review of his experience with Micah Parsons during their time together. Diggs talked about the jealousy from former star players who are no longer with the team, but shot down any narrative that he’s an issue in the locker room.

“I think everyone liked him. I feel like there were some former players who are not here no more,” Diggs said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “There was a lot of, I would say, hate, jealousy, envy towards him because of who he is and the production he does on the field. Imagine if you come in here and you’re take somebody’s shine or taking somebody’s spot, you’re not gonna like that, they’re gonna feel a type of way, especially if you’re that type of person.”

“Me personally, I never got no bad anything from him, like, ever, ever since he stepped foot on the team. I guess his personality and who he is, he knows he’s a great player, he knows he’s good, he knows who he is. So, a lot of people don’t like that. So that could’ve been different. But when we’re in the locker, everyone’s joking, everyone’s laughing, everyone’s smiling, everyone’s happy… So I don’t know where those narratives came from.”

Former Cowboys teammates DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons got crossways of each other at times in Dallas, with Lawrence not always appreciating Parsons’ efforts in media with his podcast. Both are now on different teams, with Lawrence joining the Seahawks as a free agent and Parsons getting traded to Green Bay last week. Lawrence was asked if the move surprised him.

“Shout out to Sleep Number. I thought it was a dream at first, the way that went down,” Lawrence said via USA Today’s Justin Melo. “I guess it wasn’t a dream. It didn’t surprise me, no. This league can be a tricky situation, the longer you’re in it. It is what it is. I’m here in Seattle now, and my guy Micah Parsons is in Green Bay now. The only thing left for us to do is play football.”

Dallas WR CeeDee Lamb spoke on DE Micah Parsons being traded: “Obviously wishing him the best. I hope he has the best season ever. He’s Micah Parsons, he’s unblockable. He’s unstoppable.” (Machota)
Lamb was asked what it will be like in Week 4 when Parsons returns to Dallas on another team: “The worst. It’s gonna be weird. It’s gonna be conflicting. I hope he is not in the backfield in two seconds.”

Eagles

Eagles HC Nick Sirianni was asked if S Marcus Epps can get up to speed in just a week’s time: “We’ll see. He is a really sharp guy. I’ve always thought that of Marcus. He’ll do everything he can do, and we’ve got great coaches with Christian Parker and Joe Kasper to help him get caught up. We’ll see where he is by the time we get here to this game and moving forward.” (Zach Berman)
Sirianni also talked about S Reed Blankenship‘s praise for Epps during his last stint in Philadelphia: “When we were talking about bringing Marcus back, Reed Blankenship went and talked to us about how much Marcus helped Reed develop as a player and helped him learn the scheme. He’s really sharp, and he’s got great leadership qualities. It’s awesome that that’s the memory that Reed has of Marcus, that he introduced him into this thing while Reed was a rookie. Marcus was in his fourth or fifth year, and he helped him grow. Now with Marcus being here, we’re getting him caught up to speed as quickly as we can, and then he can help Sydney [Brown] and Andrew [Mukuba] as well as Reed, helping those guys grow. I’ve always really valued my relationship with Marcus and who he is as a person, and who he is as a player, and I’m really excited to have him back.” (Berman)
Eagles OC Kevin Patullo talked about being aware of how many touches his star players are getting: “I think it’s important, right?” Patullo said. “If you’ve got guys like we do just to make sure they get in the flow of the game and sometimes they know the flow can kind of go a little bit differently and they’ve got to feel it, but I think they know going in what the plan is. So, if the plan is a certain way and it has to pivot or move, they know that they were included in the plan. So, at some point it’ll pivot back.” (Zach Berman)

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