Back in 2025, the Dallas Cowboys’ GM Jerry Jones parted ways with edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. For the blockbuster trade, the Cowboys received Kenny Clark and two first-round picks.

However, not everyone were in agreement about the move. With the preseason now underway, the frustration has started boiling over on X, as the former Super Bowl-winning defensive end Justin Tuck did not hold back while addressing the fallout from the Parsons trade and its impact on Prescott.

“You’ll never get fans to admit the truth about the Micah trade it was idiotic and ruined an MVP season from our QB,” Justin Tuck wrote on X. “…but we HAVE to move on and allow this defense to become something new it’s not gonna be as s*** as the DQ ERA but they “should be” blue collar and get the job done just hold them to 23 points.”

Tuck’s argument centers on the ripple effect of losing Parsons. With the departure of Parsons, the Cowboys’ defensive lineup suffered massively. They conceded 30.1 points per game and failed to capitalise on having an offense with two of the best receivers in the NFL and a QB like Prescott.

It all started when the contract negotiations stalled between the former Cowboys’ star edge rusher and the franchise. Even Jones tried one-on-one negotiations with Parsons, but they went nowhere. 

Later, Parsons publicly demanded a trade out of the Dallas Cowboys. He was then traded to Green Bay and was also able to sign a massive $186 million contract for four years. 

Prescott was brilliant for the Cowboys in 2025. He started 17 games, throwing for 4,552 yards and scoring 30 touchdowns. The QB led an explosive offense that scored 27.7 points per game, but the defensive lapses repeatedly tanked their efforts.

Prescott was sacked 31 times in the last season, burdened by a defense that consistently gave away leads. The Cowboys finished the season with a disappointing 7-9-1 record, continuing their 30-years of missing the NFC Championship Game or Super Bowl.

Back in the 2024 season, analyst Colin Cowherd also proposed a theory that GM Jerry Jones might be undermining Prescott’s caliber.

“Dallas didn’t draft a running back and didn’t draft a receiver until the sixth round. What Jerry doesn’t want to do is get trapped with Dak Prescott. And I thought it was strategic. We’re going to rely on you, Dak, this year,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “We’re not giving you all this ammo. We’re going to rebuild the offensive line. You’ll get protection. But in a contract year, the last thing I’m going to do is load you up with weapons. And people could say, well, you’re tanking the year…”

Cowherd’s theory was different from Tuck’s criticism, but both centered on the same broader question: Has Jones done enough to put Prescott in the best position to succeed?

While being upfront in his X post, J Tuck accuses Jerry Jones of shipping out a defensive anchor that cost Prescott elite production. But he also agreed with the idea that the franchise has to move on with the new defensive identity.