Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones compared the Micah Parsons blockbuster trade to the Green Bay Packers’ last year, to the dynasty-building Herschel Walker trade to the Minnesota Vikings in 1989, but that apples-to-oranges comparison didn’t land well with Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe.
Parsons was traded to the Packers after contract talks with Dallas broke down, but Sharpe furiously objected to Jones’ comparison between the two deals, outlining why Jones has the wrong idea.
Shannon Sharpe Dismisses Jerry Jones’ Micah Parsons Trade Comparison
During Friday’s segment of the “Nightcap” podcast, Sharpe broke down why the Walker and Parsons trades are vastly different.
“He (Walker) was the best player Dallas had,” Sharpe said. “He was the only thing that Dallas could trade. Only thing of value that they had. For me, I think Micah was a top-five defensive player. I don’t think it’s the same. Jerry’s gonna make it seem that way. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, and all he has to do, Jerry says, ‘If I win a Super Bowl, that’s all that matters.'”
After winning the Heisman Trophy during his college football career with the Georgia Bulldogs, Walker started his professional career in the United States Football League with the New Jersey Generals. The Cowboys selected the running back No. 114 overall in the 1985 NFL Draft with the USFL folding down.
In Dallas, Walker earned consecutive second-team All-Pro honors and Pro Bowl nods before being moved to the Vikings. The Cowboys received five players and six future draft picks in Walker’s trade with the Vikings, helping launch a dynasty that won three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s.
Dallas has not sniffed a Super Bowl since that electric run closed in 1996.
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On the other hand, Parsons was selected No. 12 overall by the Cowboys in the 2021 NFL Draft and quickly established himself as one of the league’s premier defensive players. In Dallas, he won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, earned one second-team All-Pro and two first-team All-Pro selections.
The Cowboys traded Parsons to the Packers for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and 2026 and 2027 first-round picks. The Cowboys parlayed the picks into defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets and pass rusher Malachi Lawrence (No. 23 in the 2026 draft).
In his first season in Wisconsin, Parsons earned a PFN Edge Rusher Impact score of 82.0, No. 17 in the NFL.
Jones further revealed that Parsons’ trade to the Packers gave the Cowboys cap space flexibility to improve their roster this season, including adding safety Jalen Thompson, trading for defensive end Rashan Gary, and agreeing to a mammoth $105.9 million extension with Quinnen Williams.
