Could Cowboys trade Micah Parsons before 2025 season?

There has been no indication that Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones is considering parting ways with pass-rusher Micah Parsons. The two-time All-Pro is in the final year of his rookie deal and requested a trade on Aug. 1.

Nevertheless, it appears multiple clubs are waiting to pounce if the Parsons-Jones saga gets ugly in a hurry. 

During a Thursday appearance on the ESPN "Get Up" program, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler spoke about Dallas potentially fielding calls regarding Parsons' services this month. 

"I'm told there are at least five or six teams that would be interested if Dallas is even willing to [trade Parsons], including possibly in his own division, by the way," Fowler said, as shared by Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report. "But Dallas has shown no willingness to move him." 

History shows that Jones may not even accept a so-called "Godfather offer" that would result in sending Parsons to the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders or New York Giants. The Eagles and Commanders faced off in this year's NFC Championship Game, and Philadelphia ultimately won Super Bowl LIX. Making either team better wouldn't make much sense for a Cowboys team that signed wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to big-money extensions last year.

Additionally, acquiring Parsons could be difficult for clubs outside of the NFC East. For an article published before Parsons went public with his trade request, ESPN's Bill Barnwell said that the Cowboys would want "two first-round picks and more" in return for the 26-year-old. 

"The closest comp is Khalil Mack, who in 2018 was traded before his fifth season with a second-round pick for two first-round picks, a third-rounder and a sixth-rounder," Barnwell wrote. "Parsons is a year younger than Mack was at the time. And while Mack had a Defensive Player of the Year award under his belt, Parsons has more sacks (52.5 to Mack's 40.5) and quarterback knockdowns (112 to Mack's 84) over his first four seasons." 

Any team willing to give up multiple valuable draft assets to land Parsons would also have to hand him a significant pay raise. T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers reset the market when he agreed to a three-year, $123M extension that included $108M guaranteed in July. It's essentially a guarantee that Parsons will want a multiyear deal that carries an average annual value worth more than $41M.

"I haven't talked to anybody in Dallas who expects [Parsons] to be outside of the team this year," Fowler added during his update. 

It sounds like at least a handful of teams think Jones could discuss making a transaction that would've been unthinkable a few weeks ago.