Determining the biggest trade in NFL history is difficult. It does seem, however, that Thursday’s trade between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers will be the most talked-about trade ever.
When the Cowboys traded Herschel Walker in an infamous trade, people either heard about it on the evening news that night or saw it in the newspaper the next day. When the Cowboys traded superstar pass rusher Micah Parson to the Packers, the entire football world instantly had an opinion. There have been other big trades in the social media era, but few involving a player of Parsons’ stature and this one involved the Cowboys, the NFL’s most visible team. It’s a trade that will be talked about 20 years from now, as it could shift legacies of many figures around the league. That’s rare.
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Who won the trade? It’s probably the team that landed a player who is 26 years old and seems on his way to the Hall of Fame someday (Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is potentially a big loser in all of this), though some contrarians will argue the Cowboys did well to get two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
In a trade this big, there were plenty of winners and losers to go around:
WINNERS
Brian Gutekunst
Gutekunst, the Packers’ general manager, has done a very good job building the Packers’ roster. However, Green Bay still seemed one superstar away from being great. That was a reason they were 0-6 against the Lions, Eagles and Vikings last season. Their ceiling seemed slightly short of a Super Bowl contender. Gutekunst changed that with a bold deal. In recent Packers history, their great GMs have been defined by big moves that led to championships. Ron Wolf traded for Brett Favre and signed Reggie White. Ted Thompson drafted Aaron Rodgers, even though the team already had Favre. Gutekunst made one fearless move when he drafted Jordan Love, and the Parsons trade could define his career.
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For most teams, trading a good defensive lineman like Kenny Clark and two first-round picks would be risky. For the Packers, it’s really not. Green Bay has an incredibly deep and young roster. The Packers, who made the playoffs the past two seasons, had the youngest roster in the NFL after cutdowns according to PhillyVoice.com. And they got younger trading Clark for Parsons. No team wants to lose first-round picks, but the Packers might not miss them much because of their young depth. And, presumably, those picks the Cowboys are getting will be near the bottom of the first round. If the Packers hit their ceiling, they could be picking No. 32.
NBC
The schedule makers couldn’t have known what was coming, but they ended up hitting the lottery on their Week 4 Sunday night choice. On Sept. 28, the Packers play at the Cowboys in a Sunday night prime-time game. That might draw some viewers. Dallas is always a ratings leader for the NFL. How many people are going to watch the Cowboys having to face a star player they traded away to the Packers, who also happen to have one of the larger followings in the NFL? Nobody liked Thursday’s trade more than NBC, which might have a record-setting ratings night on the way.
Micah Parsons was part of one of the biggest trades in NFL history on Thursday. (Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Jordan Love, maybe
Make no mistake, Love greeting Parsons in the locker room is a very good thing for him. If all goes right, that will be this generation’s Brett Favre and Reggie White in Green Bay.
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But the flip side is the pressure on Love just increased. The Packers went from being a good team to one that will be disappointed without at least an NFC North championship. In reality, anything short of a Super Bowl title in the Parsons era will be a letdown. And a lot will fall on Love, who was great for the second half of the 2023 season and injured and not as effective last season. Love is the one with the $220 million deal, even more than Parsons. And now he has to play at a championship level, or a lot of fingers will be pointed at him. But Love is closer to a Super Bowl title than he was before the Packers added Parsons.
LOSERS
Dallas fans
Presumably, there are a ton of fans who root for the Cowboys and Mavericks. And, well …
The biggest NBA trade in recent history was probably Luka Dončić being sent from the Mavs to the Los Angeles Lakers. It wasn’t popular in Dallas. That happened in February. Dallas fans didn’t have time to recover before Parsons was shipped to Green Bay.
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The situations are different and the Cowboys probably got more back in return than the Mavericks did, but Dončić and Parsons might be the two biggest stars to change teams this decade in any sport, and Dallas said goodbye to both of them. There will be a lot of sad Dončić and Parsons jerseys available on eBay today.
Lions, Bears, Vikings
The Packers might have gone from very good to great with one move. We’ll see, but seeing Parsons come to the NFC North can’t be good news for the other three teams.
The Lions could be affected most. They went 15-2 last season and an abundance of defensive injuries helped derail them in the playoffs. Detroit still came back with Super Bowl hopes, but that challenge gets tougher with the Packers leveling up. We might look back and realize that the true closure to the Lions’ Super Bowl window came on Thursday. It’s not fun either for the Vikings, who went 14-3 and have a very good roster this season but saw a main rival get much better. And the Bears should have been feeling good about improving and being a factor in the division with Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, but that path got tougher.
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The NFC North is going to be a battle royal, and for years to come.
Kenny Clark
There’s a scenario in which Clark is outstanding for the Cowboys and helps them get even better on defense. Jerry Jones certainly thinks that will be the case, based on how much he mentioned improving the run defense on Thursday night. But the most likely outcome is Clark will now be the name associated with Parsons being sent out of town. That’s unfair because Clark is a very good player. He is a three-time Pro Bowler. But he’s not Parsons. And at age 29, it’s unlikely his best years will come in Dallas.
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Jones said repeatedly in his press conference that the Cowboys’ goal was to improve their run defense, and while it’s great to stop the run, it’s also not the highest priority anymore in a league ruled by great quarterbacks. Clark could help the Cowboys’ run defense in a big way. And it probably will not be enough to make up for the loss of Parsons.
This news was originally published on this post .
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