Cowboys' Dak Prescott 'Definitely Didn't Think' Micah Parsons Would Get Traded

Dak Prescott was like the rest of us when Micah Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers amidst a contract dispute with the Dallas Cowboys—he didn't see it coming either.

"I definitely didn't think he was going to get traded," he told reporters Sunday. "But just with the way their negotiations went down, obviously to some extent, hell, y'all were asking me questions, it seemed like it got personal on their ends, so that's why I wasn't surprised."

He added that he and Parsons exchanged messages after the trade and Prescott wished him luck.

The Cowboys traded Parsons to the Packers—the very same organization that has knocked Dallas out of the playoffs three times since 2014, including in 2023—for a pair of first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.

The Packers promptly signed Parsons to a four-year, $188 million contract. His $47 million average annual salary makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

It ended what had been a protracted and drama-filled stand-off between Parsons and the Cowboys. Both Prescott and CeeDee Lamb had their own extension battles with Dallas in recent years as well but ultimately came to terms, leading many to believe the Cowboys would eventually find a compromise with Parsons as well.

But the relationship between the sides clearly deteriorated, likely hastened by the fact that team owner Jerry Jones attempted to negotiate the extension with Parsons directly and bypass his agent, David Mulugheta.

In the aftermath, Jones has attempted to paint the decision to trade Parsons as solely a football decision, citing the need for an upgrade in the interior of the defense, which the Cowboys are hoping Clark will provide.

"This was a move to get us successful in the playoffs," he told reporters. "This was a move to be better on defense, stopping the run. This was a move to, if we get behind, not be run on. And it was a deliberate move, a well-thought-out move to make this happen."

That has been met with bemused skepticism, however.

Edge-rusher is generally seen as the most important position on a defense, as the ability to get after the passer is highly valuable. Parsons is elite in that regard, with four straight seasons of 12 or more sacks. Plus, the Cowboys could have addressed the defensive tackle need via other routes.

As for the value of the draft picks, the hope with such selections is unearthing superstar talents... like Parsons. The success rate in that effort, however, is generally pretty low.

All in all, the Cowboys are not a better football team without Parsons, at least in the short term. A retooling of sorts appears to be in order, especially on the defensive side of the ball. For players like Prescott and Lamb—who committed long-term to the Cowboys—the Parsons trade must have privately been disheartening.