Micah Parsons trade: Dan Orlovsky calls Dallas Cowboys a ‘playoff afterthought’ following move

After months of speculation, the Dallas Cowboys shocked the entire sports world Thursday night when they traded three-time All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. This came after the Cowboys and Parsons (and his agent) were unable to reach an agreement on a long-term deal, leading to him asking for a trade.

Green Bay and Parsons’ agent worked quickly on a deal, which made the Penn State alum the highest-paid non-quarterback in the history of the National Football League. Parsons put pen to paper on a four-year, $188 million contract on Thursday night.

This move comes just one week before Dallas kicks off the 2025 season on the road against the reigning Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles next Thursday night (Sept. 4). ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky ripped the Cowboys organization on Thursday morning’s edition of ‘Get Up,’ calling them a playoff afterthought following the Parsons move.

“This is the worst defense in the division,” Orlovsky said. “This is the worst defense in the division now. The Cowboys are now a playoff afterthought. They were a playoff-contending team before yesterday. They are now a playoff afterthought. I would not be shocked if Dallas finished last in the division.”

Heading into their season opener, Dallas boasts three former Pro Bowlers on the defense (Clark and defensive backs DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs) but doesn’t contain much depth beyond those three players. Last season, the Cowboys allowed 355.2 yards per game (28th in the NFL) and 27.5 points per game (31st in the NFL) WITH Parsons playing in 13 games.

“This is why I go back to the moment of the Green Bay Packers loss (in the 2023 Wild Card Playoffs) in saying the day after they should have hit a full restart,” Orlovsky continued. “For (Jerry Jones) to sit there and say ‘we’re struggling to stop the run,’ this has been the case for four years. You could have done multiple things over the last three years to be better at stopping the run. You draft Mazi Smith in the First Round and that hasn’t panned out. But there are so many other options that you can go about. This is why I say that they aren’t a good organization right now. They’re just not.

“While they’ve drafted some nice players specifically on the offensive line and CeeDee (Lamb), there’s no way, because guess what happens, Mr. Jones, when you stop the run? Teams have to pass. And then you want a pass-rusher that can go get the quarterback and you just gave him away for the 30th pick in the NFL Draft. You’re not gonna stop the run with that player either.

“That’s why you just look at this compounding effect over the last couple of seasons and it feels they’re so detached from what reality is. Yesterday, they traded away Micah Parsons when NO other team would have done that in the prime of his career. We’re still trying to figure out the reason why. That’s the problem.”