With star linebacker Micah Parsons’s well-documented departure from the Dallas Cowboys about a month in the rear-view mirror, the history of “messy breakups” in the NFL gains another chapter, and Parsons joins a lineage of disgruntled players leaving their teams after public disputes.
There are many cases of “messy breakups” happening between teams and players in professional sports leagues, but especially the National Football League.
A “messy breakup”, in the NFL’s terms, usually refers to when a player and the team they were a part of for a portion of their career have a dispute that ends in the player getting traded elsewhere. This dispute is usually public, and often has something to do with the terms of the player’s contract.
Parsons’ early career
The Dallas Cowboys have a history of not paying their players fairly for their statistical performance in the NFL. The Cowboys are perennially in the offseason limelight for contract disputes with star players. Namely, in the past couple of seasons, Dallas entered contract disputes with both wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott. In both cases, the team and players resolved the disputes, and the team moved on.
Dallas drafted Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons with the No. 11 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Parsons was a phenom on the defensive side of the ball for the team to this point. He posted two First Team All-Pro selections, a Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, four Pro Bowls and three finishes inside the top three in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Parsons posted at least 12 sacks in each of his four seasons in Dallas, and led its defense to major success in his time there.
Micah is a Cowboy no more
He was set to play the 2025-26 season on his fifth year option, but sought some security in the form of a new contract. Parsons wanted a new contract with Dallas after the 2025 season, but wanted what he believed he was worth. Cowboys owner (and acting general manager) Jerry Jones wanted to keep Parsons around. However, Parsons’s representation and Jones could not come to terms on a new contract that matched both sides’ wants.
A public back-and-forth ensued, one that included Parsons laying down on a trainer’s table during one of the Cowboys’ preseason games. The Cowboys finally relented and traded Parsons to their NFC rival Green Bay Packers on Aug. 28. Dallas received two first round picks and Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark in return for Parsons.
If Green Bay continues on the trajectory they found themselves on without Parsons, those first round picks will likely be late in the first round. A late first round pick is less valuable than what they would have gotten from a team less close to contention, like the New York Jets.
Connor Hughes of SNY reported that Jones was eyeing a deal to send Parsons to the Jets for a similar package. That package included multiple first round picks and a defensive line talent. This talent would likely have been defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, one of the stars of the Jets’ defense.
However, that deal did not crystallize in time, and Parsons was traded to Green Bay.
The Packers gave Parsons what he wanted, a new contract making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, a four-year, $188 million contract with $138 million of that guaranteed.
The Parsons impact
Parsons’ absence has been instantly felt on the Cowboys’ defense. The team gave up 24 points to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1. In Week 2, they gave up another 37 to the New York Giants. It put up one sack against the Eagles, and another three against the Giants.
Meanwhile, Parsons led the Packers defense to allow both of their opponents to a combined 31 points in a two-game span. Both opponents it faced were forces in the NFC last season. Parsons notched 1.5 sacks in the span, while the rest of the team put up another 5.5. His presence on the field forces offenses to game plan around him, leaving the Packers’ other pass rushing options open to get after the quarterback.
The Cowboys face a gauntlet of strong competition in the near future, including a trip to Green Bay, where Parsons will play his former team. If Parsons has the opportunity to beat the team who traded him in front of his new home crowd, how productive of a game will he have? That Dallas/Green Bay matchup went from a game of two NFC playoff contenders to a drama-filled showdown filled to the brim with storylines and interest.
The Packers and Cowboys play that game at Lambeau Field on Week 4’s edition of Sunday Night Football.
