It’s been a year since the Green Bay Packers acquired Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys in a blockbuster trade. With the star pass rusher suffering a torn ACL in the latter half of the season, it is still difficult to determine whether Green Bay ultimately won the deal. However, the trade undoubtedly hurt the Cowboys, whose defense plummeted to new lows.
Parsons had a public fallout with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones over contract negotiations, but according to Packers analyst Peter Bukowski, the real issue may have been something else entirely.
Peter Bukowski Says Cowboys, Not Micah Parsons, Were the Problem
Parsons enjoyed a stunning start to his NFL career after being selected 12th overall by the Cowboys in the 2021 NFL Draft. During his four seasons in Dallas, he recorded at least 12 or more sacks every year, earned four consecutive Pro Bowl selections, was named a first-team All-Pro twice, and won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
Naturally, when the time came to negotiate a new contract last offseason, Parsons wanted to become the highest-paid defensive player in the league. Jones, however, appeared reluctant, even raising concerns about Parsons’ durability after he missed four games during the 2024 season.
There was also speculation that Parsons was a negative influence in the Cowboys’ locker room, with reports suggesting the team had issues with him for continuing to host his podcast during the season.
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But according to Bukowski, however, the locker room was the problem, not Parsons.
“I won’t pretend to be hyper aware of everything that went on in Dallas the last few seasons but my reaction based on a year of Micah Parsons in Green Bay is if he was a problem in the locker room, the locker room was the real issue, not Parsons,” he wrote on X.
The Packers appeared to have excellent chemistry throughout last season, and at no point did Parsons show any signs of being a negative influence. That only makes the Cowboys organization look more responsible for the situation, especially after Jones’ public comments about Parsons, which seemed to add to the tension.
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While Jones’ concern about committing a massive contract to a player with injury concerns proved somewhat justified after Parsons suffered a torn ACL in Week 15, Green Bay still got exactly what it expected, if not more.
The 27-year-old finished the season with 12.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and 27 quarterback hits in 14 games, logging an 89.5 PFN EDGE Impact score, which ranked fourth in the league.
Parsons is still recovering from the injury and is expected to miss at least part of the start of the upcoming season. Even so, he has continued to emerge as a leader and trendsetter within the organization, with Bukowski recently sharing a video of Packers defensive linemen working out in Parsons’ backyard.
