How much could Cowboys net if they trade Micah Parsons?
Whether that time is now or not, their current superstar in the crosshairs has taken to the step of demanding a trade out of the organization. Micah Parsons has now gone public with that demand.
Writing about a potential extension for Parsons has been a pastime at Cowboys Wire since last offseason. When that didn't happen in 2024, when a new deal apparently put behind the necessary extensions for QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb on the front office's agenda, most people neatly tucked it away to be atop the 2025 priority list. As the 2024 season concluded, interviews with Parsons clarified that he wasn't going to look to break the bank, but wanted to spend the rest of his career playing for the team he grew up rooting for.
But that deal didn't happen during the period between the Super Bowl and the start of the new league year. When negotiations didn't move forward, trade ideas surrounding Parsons and the 2025 draft took over the "potential" landscape. But when the draft came and went, attention was returned to discussions about just how much he would make when the two sides eventually came together.
Now, as training camp is well underway and Parsons' hold-in approaches the third week, he's officially demanded to be traded.
The easiest comparison to a Parsons trade comes in the form of the Khalil Mack swap from last decade. Mack, 27 and a three-time Pro Bowler and former Defensive Player of the Year, was getting ready to play on his fifth-year option. The then-Oakland Raiders traded him to the Chicago Bears in exchange for multiple high pedigree picks, including two first rounders. The Bears quickly extended Mack, making him the highest-paid defender in league history at the time.
Parsons, 25, has been a better player than Mack was at that point in his career. Not only is he two years younger, but he's a four-time Pro Bowler, was top-three in DPOY three times to Mack's one, and is a three-time All-Pro (to Mack's one) and was the defensive rookie of the year. Parsons also has position flex, capable of being both an edge rusher and off-ball linebacker. It stands to reason he'd be worth more in a trade than Mack, and still be signed to a record-setting deal by his acquiring team.
This is an argument most recently fleshed out on Cowboys Wire back in March, and was recently echoed by ESPN's Bill Barnwell.
The net value of the Mack trade was just under two first rounders for Mack, as Oakland send a second rounder to Chicago with him and brought back a third and a fifth rounder in addition to those two firsts. Parsons is more than likely able to command two firsts from a handful of teams expected to finish at the bottom of the standings, but any team that has realistic playoff aspirations is likely going to have to pony up more than those two first rounders for a legitimate generational talent.
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