Micah Parsons trade: What the Dallas Cowboys got in return from Green Bay Packers

The 2025 NFL season is still one week away, but there’s already fireworks going off after the Dallas Cowboys traded two-time All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.

The deal formally ended a contentious contract dispute between Parsons and longtime Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, with 26-year-old Parsons agreeing to a new four-year, $188 million deal with the Packers that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback with an average salary of $47 million annually.

Now we know what the Cowboys got in return. Green Bay is sending 29-year-old, three-time Pro Bowl DT Kenny Clark and two future first-round picks in 2026 and 2027 to Dallas for Parsons, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The Cowboys confirmed the terms of the deal.

This deal comes nearly four weeks to the day that Parsons formally requested a trade Aug. 1 after weeks of back-and-forth with Jones and the Cowboys front office.

Clark, the Packers’ 2016 first-round pick (No. 27 overall) out of UCLA, has made the Pro Bowl three times (2019, 2021, 2023) across his nine seasons in Green Bay. While he had a bit of a down year stat-wise in 2024, Clark has been among the Packers most reliable defenders and a stout playmaker in the middle of their defense for the better part of the last decade.

That includes registering a career-high 7.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and three passes defended in 2023, the second of three straight seasons in which Clark started atleast 18 games, including all 17 in the regular-season. Clark has 35 career sacks, seven forced fumbles, eight fumble returns and 417 total tackles in nine years in Green Bay.

Parsons, meanwhile, provides the Packers far more pass rush potential off the edge, registering at least 12 sacks each of his first four NFL seasons after being selected by the Cowboys as the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Penn State. Parsons has 52.5 career sacks, 63 tackles for loss, nine forced fumbles, four fumble returns and 256 total tackles in four years in Dallas.

Micah Parsons sends message to Cowboys fans after team trades him to Packers

Micah Parsons has sent a message to the Dallas Cowboys fans after the team traded him to the Green Bay Packers.

On X/Twitter, Parsons shared a video of his highlights in Dallas, which was followed by footage of legendary Packers pass rusher Reggie White. And in the caption, Parsons wrote, “Thank you Dallas ….. GO Pack Go!”

In a follow-up post, Parsons issued a message to the Cowboys fans.

“From the moment I arrived in Dallas, you embraced me and my family as your own,” Parsons said. “You made a kid from the east coast feel right at home in Texas. Every time I pulled up to work, every time I stepped onto that field, I felt the weight and pride of representing you. You didn’t just give me a jersey, you gave me a place to belong.

“I never wanted this chapter to end, but not everything was in my control. My heart has always been here, and it still is. Through it all, I never made any demands. I never asked for anything more than fairness. I only asked that the person I trust to negotiate my contract be part of the process.”

— On3’s Brian Jones contributed to this report.