Green Bay Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons speaks during an introductory press conference on Friday, August 29, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Packers made a trade with the Dallas Cowboys on Aug. 28 to acquire Parsons in exchange for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first round picks. Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Eagles Coach Doesn't Bite On Micah Storyline

Originally posted on Philadelphia Eagles on SI
By John McMullen | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 2:22 PM ET

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni didn’t take the bait when asked about the blockbuster trade that sent Micah Parsons out of Dallas and off to Green Bay on the doorstep of the Week 1 encounter between Philadelphia and the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field.

"We have so much going on. We're getting ready to play the Cowboys,” Sirianni said of Parsons. “He's in your thoughts of game planning. They still have guys we have to prepare for — they obviously got Kenny Clark, who's a really good player, – and they have good depth at the defensive end group.

“So you don't get too wrapped up into that."

Eagles Coach Avoids Pitfall

While Sirianni wasn’t Lou Holtz-ing his division rival and patting the Cowboys on the head, the Eagles coach has always been highly complimentary of Parsons as a player.

For all of Sirianni’s coaching tenure with the Eagles, Philadelphia has either had the best offensive line in the business or close to it, and his thought process when it came to Parsons was ‘if you can’t block him, read him,’ a testament to the pass-rushing star’s game-wrecking ability.

Ironically, the Eagles coach read the question and safely deflected any bulletin-board material away.

If there was truth serum on hand at the NovaCare Complex on Sunday, it would have revealed that Sirianni is thrilled to not have to game plan with Parsons as enemy No. 1 in Week 1. Or later in the season when the Eagles visit North Texas to meet the Cowboys in Week 12.

Week 10 against the Packers at Lambeau Field and and a potential playoff game down the road against an organization better equipped to supplement Parsons’ generational pass-rushing ability is a different story.

Parsons was sent to the Packers for two first-round picks and Clark, and immediately signed a four-year, $188 million extension that made him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history with a $47 million average-annual-value deal.

Perhaps feeling the pressure of how the Parsons flub is viewed around the league, the Cowboys proved they could actually get things done on the contract front by signing All-Pro cornerback Daron Bland to a four-year, $92 million extension on Sunday, days in advance of the Thursday night NFL season opener between the Eagles and Dallas at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles are coming off a Super Bowl LIX championship, and the Cowboys will be trying to rebound from a 7-10 season.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Eagles on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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