Hours after trading away one of the NFL's elite talents in a seismic swap with the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones addressed the media Thursday evening.
Unable to work out a contract extension with four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Micah Parsons, Jones and the Cowboys worked out a deal in which they acquired run-stuffer Kenny Clark and a pair of first-round draft picks.
It's a move Jones believes was best for Dallas and could prove to be a boon for the franchise, much like the trade of Herschel Walker was more than 35 years earlier.
"Obviously, we did think it was in the best interest of our organization," Jones said while speaking to a hastily assembled media corps at an impromptu news conference at The Star. "Not only the future but right now, this season, as well. We've gained a Pro Bowl player in an area that we had big concerns in."
Clark, 29, is a three-time Pro Bowler on his way to Dallas-Fort Worth along with 2026 and 2027 first-round picks from the Packers. On his way out is Parsons, a 26-year-old All-Pro game changer who's had 12 or more sacks in each of his four seasons, joining Hall of Famer Reggie White as the only two NFL players to have ever done so.
As much of the football world wondered how a contract impasse with Parsons -- one like so many before with past and present Dallas players such as Ezekiel Elliott, Zack Martin, CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott that were inevitably worked out -- could lead to a divorce, Jones smiled as he explained the positives of the past, present and future.
"He was an asset that we got four great years out of, but when you are talking about making a contract the kind that he got and for the future, that's quite a commitment," Jones said in reference to the four-year, $188 million deal with $136 million guaranteed that the Packers signed Parsons to. "And none of that counts what he did those first four years. It all goes against what he can do for you in the future. The length of that contract and maybe more. Well, then you've got to really weigh how many players -- and I'm going to give you this -- not only do we immediately get a player, but those draft picks could get us, I'm talking top, Pro Bowl-type players. Could. You won't necessarily get those players. You've got to draft or acquire them. But they could get us as few as three or as many as five outstanding players."
Indeed, the Cowboys could keep on trading, with Jones offering that morsel later in the presser.
"[It] not only gives us four first-round picks over the next two years, we not only do that, nothing says we can't use some of those picks right now to go get somebody," the Hall of Fame owner said. "Don't rule that out."
It was just eight days prior that Dallas rookie head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he felt good about Parsons being on the field for the Cowboys' season opener Sept. 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
It was somewhat surprising considering the recent history surrounding the Parsons stalemate. Parsons, dismayed that negotiations between his representation and Jones had never transpired, requested a trade on Aug. 1. Jones responded a day after that the request was nothing to "lose any sleep over" and simply a negotiation tactic.
It turns out that a trade was always a possibility, though it finally came to fruition on a fateful Thursday exactly a week away from Dallas beginning its 2025 season.
"This trade was not just thought about today," Jones said. "This trade has been going on in our minds and our strategies, being talked about. It's been going on all spring. It culminated today and it came quick, but that's the way things go."
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Jane Slater reported prior to the news conference that Parsons and his reps had reached out to the Cowboys about an extension after news of a potential trade leaked out this week. Jones, per those reports, communicated that Parsons could play on his fifth-year rookie option or move on via trade. Jones confirmed the conversation.
However, he conveyed no ill will to the player he drafted 12th overall in 2021.
"I really like Micah," Jones said. "I appreciate the four years that we've had him here. He's a great player. We are very appreciative of the fact that he's a great player. There's no question that I could have signed him in April. And so, we all know that to have agreements all parties have to agree, but this was by design. I did make Micah an offer. It wasn't acceptable, and I honored the fact that it wasn't done through the way he wanted to do it with an agent. So, he was made an offer. There's not an ounce of vindictiveness. There's no bad feelings on my part about the fact we didn't come together on an agreement."
The Cowboys are coming off a 7-10 season, one that snapped a run of three straight playoff berths. Among the pitfalls of the 2024 squad was a run defense that was 29th in yards allowed and dead last in rushing touchdowns given up.
Thus, Clark fills a massive need on the defensive interior for the 'Boys.
"Kenny Clark was a big part of this," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "That was a part of winning right now. We feel like when you look at the frustration is we hadn't been able to win the big game in the playoffs, and we think it is a direct connection to not being able to stop the run. And we think Kenny Clark is gonna be a big piece to that. We felt like because of our depth on the edge, as well as the ability to scheme pressure, that we could make up for Micah -- because obviously he's elite at rushing the passer -- that we could make up for that. Then in addition to it, we do now have two ones in each draft over the next two years, and nothing says we can't use those to improve the team this year, which we wouldn't rule out."
Dallas has already glimpsed life without Parsons, with the standout missing four games last year. The Cowboys went 1-3 and allowed 30.3 points per game in his absence.
Now, the likes of Marshawn Kneeland, Dante Fowler, Sam Williams and rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku will shoulder the burden of replacing the 14.2 sacks per season Parsons averaged. And though the Cowboys now boast four first-rounders over the next two years, Clark will slot in front of Mazi Smith, the team's 2023 first-rounder who's struggled mightily.
The Joneses believe the future is bright because of the haul, though. Bright enough to call back to the famous Walker trade.
"Micah Parsons did an outstanding job for us for four years, and a little bit of the way Herschel Walker may have had his greatest contribution to the Cowboys, what he brought to us when he left could be a tremendous thing for our fans and the success of this team," Jerry Jones said.
In the fall of 1989, the Cowboys -- under Jones and then-head coach Jimmy Johnson -- engineered a trade that sent Walker, viewed as one of the league's top running backs, to the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for a cadre of players and some draft picks. However, a stipulation to the deal was that conditional picks were attached to every player should Dallas cut them. The Cowboys parted ways with each player, garnering three first-rounders in total and plenty more draft ammunition, which eventually led to Dallas selecting Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, along with Darren Woodson, Russell Maryland and Kevin Smith -- mainstays during the Cowboys 1990s dynasty.
So, in terms of draft capital gained, Thursday's blockbuster doesn't match up.
Nonetheless, the summer's biggest burning question has been answered.
Parsons is gone to Green Bay and Dallas believes it'll still contend now and for autumns to come with nary a regret to show for it.
"Nothing at all in terms of regret," Jerry Jones said. "You're asking if I regret, no, I don't regret that at all. I'm very, very excited about the prospects of what we've done for the Cowboys here. I wouldn't have done it. I wouldn't have done it. I had total control over being able to have it the other way. So, I'm excited. We got what we wanted."
