Jerry Jones Shopped Micah Parsons to Jets, Eyed Quinnen Williams for Cowboys in Trade

Before Micah Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered him to the New York Jets.

Appearing on 880 ESPN New York with Gary Myers, Jones indicated he sought to trade Parsons in a package for Quinnen Williams, but the Jets turned it down because they "didn't have the resources to entertain conversation."

Jones called it a "prerequisite" for any trade involving Parsons was the Cowboys would receive a "significant, dominant" player to line up on the interior of the defensive line.

Myers received confirmation from Jones that he was seeking a package of Williams and at least one first-round draft pick, potentially two, from the Jets.

The deal that Jones laid out during his conversation with Myers is exactly what the Cowboys wound up receiving from the Packers for Parsons. They got Kenny Clark plus two future first-round picks in 2026 and 2027.

Even though most analysts would agree there weren't a lot of ways the Cowboys could have received a fair deal in exchange for Parsons, the deal Jones sought from the Jets actually would have been pretty good.

Williams has made the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons, including an All-Pro year in 2022, is only 27 years old and signed through 2027. He has 40 career sacks in 91 games playing primarily as an interior lineman.

On top of that, two future first-round picks from the Jets would have tremendous value. Their lowest position in the first round since 2017 was No. 13, which was swapped with the Packers (No. 15 overall) as part of the Aaron Rodgers trade in 2023.

It's probably for the best that the Jets opted not to take the deal because their most pressing issue is trying to find a long-term solution at quarterback. They can't really do that if their next first-round pick came in 2028, even though Parsons on that defense with Will McDonald, Quincy Williams, Jermaine Johnson II and Sauce Gardner led by head coach Aaron Glenn would be fun.

Instead, Jones took the trade from Green Bay that was universally panned for the Cowboys. Clark had a rough season in 2024 with five quarterback hits and one sack in 17 games, though it could at least be explained in part by a foot injury that required offseason surgery.

The jewel of the trade, though, has to be the draft picks. The pick that Green Bay sent to the Jets two years ago was the first time the organization had a selection inside the top 20 since 2019.

Putting Parsons on an already-loaded Packers roster made them an even stronger Super Bowl contender. If the Cowboys get a pick higher than 20th out of this deal, it probably means something went wrong for Green Bay in either 2025 or 2026.