The Green Bay Packers don’t own a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the reason is Micah Parsons. General manager Brian Gutekunst shipped Green Bay’s 2026 and 2027 first-rounders plus defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas on Aug. 28, 2025, to acquire the All-Pro edge rusher. Thursday night is when the first half of that bill comes due.
Revisiting the Micah Parsons Trade That Cost the Packers Their 2026 First-Rounder
The Packers acquired Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys days before the 2025 regular season opened. They sent Clark, their 2026 first-round pick, and their 2027 first-round pick in exchange.
Parsons signed a four-year, $188 million extension on arrival, with $136 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history at $47 million per year.
Green Bay’s 2026 first-rounder slotted in at No. 20 overall after the Packers finished 9-7-1 and lost 31-27 to the Bears in the NFC Wild Card Round. Dallas already holds its own pick at No. 12 after a 7-9-1 season, which means Jerry Jones walks into Pittsburgh with two top-20 selections.
The Packers don’t pick until No. 52 overall, the 20th selection of the second round. They hold eight total picks across the draft. It’s the first time since 1986 that Green Bay has entered the NFL draft without a first-round pick in hand.
“If we end up waiting 51 picks before we pick, that’ll be a long time,” Gutekunst told reporters this week. “And hopefully I have the patience and the discipline to do that.”
What the Packers Got, What Dallas Still Owns
Parsons was exactly what Green Bay paid for through 14 games. He earned first-team All-Pro honors with 12.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, 26 quarterback hits, and 41 tackles, becoming the first player in NFL history with at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons. Through Week 15 he led the league with 83 quarterback pressures, per Next Gen Stats.
Then he planted awkwardly on a third-quarter pass rush against Denver on Dec. 14 and tore his left ACL on a non-contact play. Parsons had surgery before the end of the year with a typical nine-month recovery window, and he told reporters his goal is to return by Week 3 or Week 4 of the 2026 season. The Packers lost that Denver Broncos game and their next four straight, including the playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.
That’s where the second piece of the trade gets interesting. Dallas also owns Green Bay’s 2027 first-rounder, though with a wrinkle: the Cowboys sent the better of their two 2027 first-round picks to the Jets in the Quinnen Williams trade. Dallas keeps whichever of its two 2027 firsts ends up worse.
If Parsons’ recovery slows his 2026 season and the Packers regress with it, Green Bay’s 2027 pick climbs up the board, and the Jets, not Dallas, collect the benefit. Dallas’ consolation pick is effectively capped at whichever team finishes better between itself and Green Bay.
The Packers bet two first-rounders on a Super Bowl window with Parsons at the center of it. Twelve games in, that window looked wide open. It closed five straight losses later.
Gutekunst still has one of the best edge rushers in football under contract for the next three seasons, but the next 12 months of Parsons’ rehab will determine whether the 2026 first-round absence is a one-year problem or the start of a longer one.
