Cowboys ‘Can’t Imagine’ Trading LB Micah Parsons

Speaking at the NFL owners meetings this past week, Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones was asked specifically about the possibility of trading LB Micah Parsons this offseason. 

“We love Micah,” Jones said via NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. “I can’t imagine there’s a scenario where he’s not wearing a star on his helmet.”

However, Jones acknowledged that Dallas is going to have to evaluate whether it’s prudent to sign yet another player to a top-of-the-market contract. The Cowboys signed QB Dak Prescott and WR CeeDee Lamb to deals totaling $94 million in average annual salary and Parsons could add another $35 million-plus to that sum. 

“Yeah that’ll all be things we’ll consider,” Jones said. “Obviously we’re totally all in on Dak and CeeDee, but after that, then you still shape things, including Micah. But Micah’s a great player. You don’t do well in this league letting guys like Micah, usually, leave the house.”

Jones admitted they’d have to evaluate whether the Cowboys are too top-heavy, with several highly-paid players missing time due to injuries this year and contributing to the disappointing record. 

“To me, it would be irresponsible if every year you don’t look at the full body of work and the big picture and how those guys fit into that big picture and how we want to think about our team in terms of the big picture going forward,” Jones said. 

“I think that’s a balancing act that you always got to look at. Especially when your good, good players get hurt and are not on the field. It totally magnifies the issue if you lose guys like Dak, and [Trevon]  misses games, Zack Martin misses games and it’s going to magnify something like that. You’re going to say ‘God, are we smart having this much money tied in to the top five to 10 players?'”

Parsons, 25, was the former No. 12 overall pick by the Cowboys in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Penn State. He’s in the final year of a four-year, $17,079,792 rookie contract that included a $9,781,667 signing bonus.

Dallas exercised the fifth-year option for Parsons and he’s slated to make $21.32 million guaranteed in 2025. 

In 2024, Parsons has appeared in nine games for the Cowboys and recorded 28 total tackles, six tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one pass deflection. 

We’ll have more on Parsons as the news is available.