Adam Schefter foreshadows 'divorce' between Cowboys and Micah Parsons, here's what that could look like

There might not be a long-term future between the Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons. That's at least according to ESPN's NFL insider, Adam Schefter.

Schefter said Tuesday both sides are "headed towards a divorce" with the 2025 regular season peeking its head in the horizon. The Cowboys and Parsons haven't resumed contract negotiations since April despite the latter's trade request in early August.

Though it remains a mystery what the future holds for Parsons and the Cowboys, the top insider foreshadowing a split between both parties brings up an inevitable question. If a divorce indeed happened, what would it look like? Let's break it down.

A trade before the 2025 NFL season is highly unlikely

A divorce being in the cards for Parsons and the Cowboys doesn't mean it has to happen right now. After all, let's not ignore the obvious: This year's Dallas' defense would be in a terrible spot if Parsons wasn't rocking the Star. Even the slightest glimmer of hope of getting a deal done in the future should be enough for the Cowboys to resist dealing Parsons at this point.

There's nothing the Cowboys could realistically receive in trade compensation that would make them better in 2026. And following long-term deals to Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, Dallas isn't in rebuild mode, even if they're not top Super Bowl contenders either. If a trade did happen down the road, it would likely be in 2026 or later.

Franchise tag(s) in the horizon

This is a contract year for Parsons, which means the Cowboys would be forced to franchise tag him in 2026 if they intend to trade him then. The same would go for 2027 if Dallas wanted to stretch things out as much as possible. Naturally, things would get awful between franchise and player if the Cowboys made Parsons stick around for two more seasons through the tag. But if they wanted to squeeze every game of No. 11 wearing a jersey, they could do it. Now granted, at that point the best way to go about things would be to sign him to a long-term deal but this is where we are at.

More than likely, assuming a divorce is the endgame and excluding the possibility of an extension, the Cowboys would be shopping Parsons next offseason while he's on the tag.

It's got to be a trade, right?

All of the above brings me to this. If the Cowboys decide a divorce is inevitable in the future, then they must take advantage of having one of the best players in the sport. That means trading him early on, ideally next offseason, to maximize the compensation.

In contrast to trading him today, at that point, Dallas would know exactly which draft picks it stands to gain. The front office would know what the draft class looks like. It would probably know more about players who could also be involved in the deal and would have time to "onboard" them as Cowboys.

Who knows if things will change once the Cowboys invite Parsons and his agent back to the negotiating table (if that happens), but for now, if a divorce does happen, it would likely be a 2026 offseason trade.

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