Ralph Vacchiano
NFL Reporter
Earlier this week, when rumors started flying that Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys might be headed for a divorce, nobody around the NFL seemed to believe it would actually happen.
“C’mon,” one NFL executive texted me that night, “even Jerry Jones isn’t that crazy.”
Well …
In a stunning, head-scratching, and NFC-rocking moment, the 82-year-old Jones showed just how crazy he is, shipping off his best defensive player to the conference-rival Green Bay Packers in exchange for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. And then, with a straight face and his fingers not crossed behind his back, he actually said he did it because he believes it gives the Cowboys “a better chance to be a better team” right now than they’ve been with Parsons — especially if they manage to reach the playoffs.
And he went to great lengths to explain the seemingly inexplicable. He said the motivation to make the deal was to improve the Cowboys’ porous run defense, which ranked 29th in the league last year. He glowed about how the extra first-rounders “could get us top, Pro Bowl-type players,” even though those picks are likely to be in the bottom-third of the round. And he bragged about how the cap space that would’ve gone to Parsons — who instantly got a four-year, $188 million deal from Green Bay with $120 million guaranteed — can now go to “three to five players that we wouldn’t have been able to [sign].”
He even compared it to the infamous Herschel Walker trade in 1989 that enabled the Cowboys to build the foundation for their ‘90s dynasty that won three Super Bowls in four years — even though the return for Parsons was far less than the bounty Dallas got for Walker (a package that included three first-round picks and much more, thanks to Jimmy Johnson’s genius).
But in the mind of Jones, this all makes sense. This wasn’t about his feud with Parsons’ agent, he insisted. And he swore it was done with “not an ounce of vindictiveness” following the ugly (and public) standoff he and Parsons had this summer.
He insisted all that matters, in the context of this deal, is that the Cowboys will be better without Parsons than they were with him.
No, really.
“We can win more games than we would, had we gone the other route and signed Micah,” Jones insisted. “Our judgment is this gives us a better chance to be a better team than we have been the last several years, while Micah has been here.”
That judgment certainly seemed questionable in the aftermath of the deal. As one NFL executive told me, “We’re all looking for players like Micah. When you’ve got one, you don’t let him go out the door for future picks and cash.”
“This is the kind of deal you make when you don’t think you can contend,” another NFL executive said. “When you’ve got a true difference-maker — and that’s what Parsons is — you don’t let him go. You certainly don’t do it for the future.
“I mean, what are they going to do with all those assets they got? I’ll tell you: They’re going to use them to try to find another Parsons.”
Jones, though, was defiant that he didn’t need a player like Parsons, as ridiculous as that sounds. He said over and over, “We need to stop the run”, which seemed to be more important to him than rushing the passer. And he really seemed to believe that his defense was better off with the 6-foot-3, 314-pound Clark, a run-stuffing defensive tackle who has been to the Pro Bowl three times and will turn 30 in October, than it would’ve been with the 26-year-old Parsons, who’s been selected to the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons and registered 52.5 sacks in the process.
He was also convinced that the lack of a run defense is why the Cowboys have historically wilted in the postseason.
“This was a move to get us successful in the playoffs,” Jones said. “This was a move to be better on defense, stopping the run. This was a move to, if we get behind, to not be run on. And it was a deliberate move, a well-thought-out move to make this happen.”
Perhaps. But as one NFL executive told me, “You build teams around players like Micah Parsons. You don’t build around Kenny Clark.”
It was more than that to Jones, of course. He loves the idea of now having four first-round picks in the next two drafts, and even dangled the idea of using them right now to trade for another player. And he already seemed to be dreaming of what the Cowboys could do with Parsons’ cap space — as if they’re ever actually active in free agency.
Maybe, if they nail those first-round picks and sign a few good players, the Cowboys really will be deeper and more potent in the next few years. Maybe.
“It takes more than one [player],” Jones insisted. “You do have to allocate your resources, whether it be draft picks or finances. And there was no question in my mind that Micah could bring us a lot of resources in a trade.”
He did, and the Cowboys now have more resources for the future. But Dallas, which kicks off its season in less than a week against the defending champion Eagles, sure does seem a lot worse today.
“I don’t know how you tell your other players that this makes you better,” an executive said. “They’re not stupid. Their best defensive player just walked out the door, and his new team (the Packers) might be the team to beat in the NFC because of him.
“Ask 32 teams if they’d be better off with Micah Parsons on their roster. Only one would say no.”
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
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