Packers Reportedly Felt Micah Parsons Trade Was 'Long Shot,' Latest on Contract Talks

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst felt acquiring Micah Parsons from the Dallas Cowboys was a "long shot" even as he negotiated a trade for the star edge rusher, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Don Van Natta Jr. reported Tuesday.

According to Fowler and Van Natta, Gutekunst "thought that when push came to shove, Jerry Jones would not part ways with a star player in the prime of his career."

Jones ultimately sent Parsons to the Packers last Thursday in exchange for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.

Parsons went on to sign a four-year, $188 million extension with the Packers after the trade.

One team source told Fowler and Van Natta that Gutekunst's odds of finalizing a trade for Parsons only "started to feel real about a week before the deal."

According to Fowler and Van Natta, extension talks "gained steam in the hour or so before 5 p.m. ET on Thursday," when news broke that Parsons had been traded.

Gutekunst said multiple times during Parsons' introductory press conference that he felt there were "slim" odds of finalizing a trade throughout his negotiation process with Jones.

"The chances of these things happening are pretty slim, and I think that was my mindset the whole time," Gutekunst said last Friday. "I was going to keep the conversations going because of the uniqueness of the player, but I don't think it was really until the last few days that I actually thought, hey, there's an opportunity here to really close this thing out."

Fowler and Van Natta reported that the Packers' communication with Parsons' agent, David Mulugheta, was "smooth" during a contract negotiation process one source described as "transparent and fast."

The Packers' prior connection to Parsons' agent may have helped the team with those negotiations, according to Fowler and Van Natta's report.

Parsons announced in an Aug. 1 post on social media that he had requested a trade from the Cowboys in part because Jones had attempted to negotiate a new contract him without Mulugheta in the room.

Mulugheta also represents Jordan Love and Xavier McKinney, which Fowler and Van Natta wrote led to "familiarity" between the Packers and Parsons' camp.

If the Packers hadn't been able to work out an extension with Parsons and therefore couldn't finalize a deal, Fowler and Van Natta reported that "at least" three other teams would have been interested in trading for Parsons.

Another team indicated it would be interested in trading for Parsons should the Cowboys have decided to wait until next spring to move him, per Fowler and Van Natta.

ESPN's Todd Archer, Adam Schefter and Dan Graziano originally reported prior to Parsons' trade to the Packers that "several teams" had reached out to the Cowboys about a potential trade.

At the time, Fowler named the Packers, Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals as teams "that make sense in league circles" as potential trade candidates.

The Packers ultimately won out in trade talks in time to add the star edge rusher ahead of the 2025 season, although it is not yet clear if he will be able to play in Sunday's season opener against the Detroit Lions.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Parsons may need an epidural injection in order to play through a lingering back injury.