In a league full of standout quarterbacks with strong throwing arms, Jerry Jones’ biggest issue after 2024 was the team’s lack of run defense. So, when the stalemate with Edge rusher Micah Parsons grew intense, the Dallas Cowboys general manager made a pros and cons list. Parsons is not the best in run defense, and that kept nagging Jones. Now, Jones is no stranger to gambling his stars to irk the Cowboys Nation and build something from scratch – Herschel Walker, anyone? But after three decades of that habit failing to make his case, one would think Jones might reassess. Think again!

Six days after the edge rusher was seen lying down on a table during the preseason game last season, Jones pulled the unthinkable. He traded the 26-year-old player, clearly in his prime, to the Green Bay Packers on August 28, 2025. What happened next was no better. But one year down the line, and having seen how things have evolved, how exactly have the two teams fared with the future Hall of Famer’s presence or absence?

The Cowboys after Micah Parsons

Since Micah Parsons’ arrival in Dallas, the Cowboys’ defensive strategies had always centered around his ability to generate pressure from multiple positions. In his four years with the team, the Cowboys boasted the NFL’s best defense by EPA per play. But his one weakness that got floated around quite a lot last offseason pushed Jones to be comfortable with a trade that looked too good on paper.

For the then-four-time Pro Bowler, Jones received defensive tackle Kenny Clark and first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. Clark was, of course, supposed to strengthen the team’s run defense that Parsons couldn’t. But things turned on Jones’ gamble.

The Cowboys’ defense was the worst unit in 2025, similar to how it had been when Parsons was not on the field for them through his first four years in the NFL. Here’s how things have looked for the Cowboys with and without their star edge rusher:

The Cowboys with Micah Parsons

With Micah Parsons, Dallas won 41 games and lost 22. From 2021 to 2024, he played in 63 games and racked up 52.5 sacks, 256 tackles, 63 tackles for loss, and 112 quarterback hits. But what stood out most was the consistency.

He never had a season under 12 sacks, going 13 in 2021, 13.5 in 2022, and 14 in 2023. Despite an ankle injury that held him to just 13 games in 2024, he completed 12 sacks. There’s a reason why his teammates wanted him on the field — and it wasn’t even about him playing.

Whether Parsons was actively involved in a defensive snap didn’t matter. Knowing that he was present on the field and could take over at any moment, the opponents changed their strategies to hold him, creating opportunities for the rest of the teammates. But things changed drastically for Dallas once he was traded right before the 2025 season kicked off.

The Cowboys without Parsons

With him gone, DC Matt Eberflus had to redo his defensive strategies. Unsurprisingly, pretty much every team had a field day against this unit last year, leading the Cowboys defense to finish dead last in the league.

Sacks took a real hit, dropping from 52 (third-best) in 2024 to just 35, tied for 22^nd in 2025. That’s the kind of decline you’d expect when you lose a guy who was single-handedly worth over a dozen sacks a year. But it gets interesting…

Even after Micah Parsons was traded, the Cowboys still generated pressure, ranking sixth in the league. It just wasn’t converting into sacks the way it used to when Parsons was closing plays out himself. Jerry Jones, though? Not backing down an inch.

“Even though Micah’s an outstanding talent [that] anybody would like to have, the bottom line is that I like what the result of the trade has ended up as I stand here today.”

Still, on the scoreboard, it was rough. Dallas finished 7-9-1 and fielded what’s been called the worst defense in franchise history. But things are looking up for the Lone Star State now.

The Cowboys defense is turning heads this preseason

It would be understandable if you didn’t believe that Jones’ gamble, like the Walker trade, is also working, in whatever capacity.

He used the draft capital from the trade to get Quinnen Williams from the Jets, turned the other first-rounder into edge rusher Malachi Lawrence after trading down, and used the money they freed up to extend Williams and add more pieces on defense.

The idea is simple: Moving one star, however painful in the moment, can hand you the resources to rebuild an entire roster around it. Whether history agrees with him is still an open question, but he’s clearly not losing sleep over it.

“But the fact that we revamped our defense, that was an instigator toward that attitude: ‘Let’s come in here and change this up. Let’s get rush from the interior; let’s be stronger on the run in the interior with an emphasis on those guys in the middle,'” Jones explained the use of trade assets. “That’s not an accident. That’s what you see out there from the inside.”

Entering this season, Dallas’ defense has been a crowd-puller throughout camp. They have retooled with players like Rashan Gary, Cobie Durant from free agency, and rookies Caleb Downs, Lawrence, and Jaishawn Barham. Neither will make up for Micah Parsons, but they sure have the potential to make the Dallas defense look better than last year.

Did Micah Parsons change the Packers’ luck?

It should not be surprising that having Jordan Love under center and Micah Parsons on the defense gives flashbacks to the Brett Favre-Reggie White era in Green Bay.

It would be safe to say that the Packers weren’t exactly out looking to improve their defense that ranked sixth-best in points allowed in 2024. However, despite Jordan Love under center, the team felt like they were missing a piece. A piece that could transform them from being a good team to Super Bowl contenders. Enter Micah Parsons.

The trade looked wrong for the Packers initially, but if you go into the depth, that’s exactly how the team’s trades have looked. The Packers have always prioritized younger, ascending players who can reach their full potential in Green Bay. Getting him in took a lot, but it’s safe to say the Packers got what they paid for.

How the Packers looked with Parsons suiting up

Green Bay didn’t hesitate for a second and handed Parsons a four-year, roughly $188 million extension — the highest-paid non-quarterback at that time.

And for a while, it looked like the smartest money the Packers ever spent. Parsons made the Pro Bowl again in his first year in Green Bay. Everything was clicking. Until it wasn’t.

In Week 15 against the Denver Broncos, Parsons went down with a season-ending ACL tear. And that’s when things got genuinely alarming for Green Bay. Here’s the drop-off, and it’s not subtle (courtesy of Kalani Jones at Lombardi Ave):

In the 14 games Parsons played, the Packers racked up 34 sacks, 61 tackles for loss, and 84 quarterback hits. That’s an elite pass rush. Then he goes down, and the Packers record zero sacks. You can read that again: Zero, across three games. It reflected what Parsons did for the Cowboys in more ways:

Tackles for loss dropped to seven. QB hits dropped to 11. The overall record tells the same story. Green Bay went 0-2 without him, 0-3 if you count the Denver game where he got hurt. The Packers defense embarrassingly gave up 44 points against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 16, despite only having lost games by a three-point difference before the losing streak began. They dropped to the 11th-worst defense. But things could look up for them.

Parsons has a positive return update for the Cheeseheads

Parsons opened Packers training camp on the PUP list as he recovers from his torn ACL. With that, he is expected to miss at least the first four games, with a possible return around Week 6 against Dallas. His return will be pivotal to the Packers’ contender hopes.

It’s a lot to put on one player, but it’s fair to say the Packers’ season may hinge on how Parsons looks.

A year ago, this was framed as one team’s gain being another’s loss. Twelve months in, the reality is messier than that. Both sides have felt exactly how much one player can shape a defense, just in very different ways.