Believe it or not, there are people out there who praised the Cowboys for trading star edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers.
The rare few who saw the logic in Dallas’s stunning decision pointed to the benefits that could come from being a well-rounded, younger team with more cap-space flexibility instead of trotting out another top-heavy squad that had most of its resources tied to star players. Those who say the Cowboys were better off in the short term without Parsons either don’t exist, are lying or are employed by Jerry Jones.
Those who defended Jones for prioritizing the future probably should have waited until after the NFL trade deadline, because it seems his motives for the biggest trade in recent memory weren’t about a shift in philosophy. It’s usually about a combination of things, with pettiness, maintaining the spotlight and what’s good for business being atop the list. It’s probably always been about the 2025 Cowboys doing better than Parsons and his new team.
Jones keeps telling every ESPN personality that he has a few trades in the works, including one that’s already been agreed to on the eve of the league’s deadline for making deals. For the sake of Cowboys fans, hopefully Jones was just talking a big game and making the media rounds to get football fans to care enough to bring out the antennas for Monday’s night sleepy Dallas vs. Arizona matchup that was blacked out to a large audience because of the dispute between Disney and YouTube TV.
If Jones ends up executing splash trades that require losing valuable draft picks, it would be a monumental mistake to attempt to save this Cowboys squad that just got torched by a Cardinals’ offense that had been sleepwalking the past year and half. You could see the disgust in Troy Aikman’s face when Joe Buck informed him of Jones’s big plans for the trade deadline during Monday’s ESPN broadcast—or maybe you didn’t watch the Cowboys embarrass themselves in the 27–17 loss because of the greedy TV executives, but that’s a different story.
To go off what Aikman said, the Cowboys (3-5-1) aren’t a player or two away from turning it around in the second half of the season. In fact, this team needs to be sellers and go all in on prioritizing the future, even if that wasn’t Jones’s initial intention after announcing the Parsons trade. Put it this way: Even if Jones somehow pulls off a miraculous trade for Raiders star edge rusher Maxx Crosby, that still wouldn’t save this dreadful defense. In this scenario, Crosby might actually be playing for a worse defense if he were to leave Las Vegas for Dallas. That’s how bad this Cowboys defense has been through nine games. Not one, two or three players will save this unit in 2025.
But back to his farfetched Crosby trade scenario, the Cowboys would likely need to give up one of their two 2026 first-round picks for a player who’s two years older than the 26-year-old Parsons and maybe not as good as the Packers’ new stud edge rusher. Trading for Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson probably wouldn’t cost a first-round pick, but he’s already on the wrong side of 30 and would require a new contract. Even a trade for 28-year-old Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons wouldn’t make sense. In all these scenarios, the Cowboys would have been better off just paying Parsons.
A better option for the Cowboys would be to just ride out the bumps this season and hope for the best. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to consider trading wide receiver George Pickens, who’s due for a contract extension, but it’s tough seeing a handful of teams lining up for his services because of the drama that transpired with the Steelers. Pickens can also be a headache on the field when he’s not making downfield plays, like the costly penalty he had against the Cardinals during the fourth quarter. But Dallas actually has a good thing going on the offensive side with coach Brian Schottenheimer quickly producing a productive offense for Dak Prescott. It’s not their fault the defense can’t stop anybody and it hasn’t gotten as bad as what has transpired in Cincinnati with the offense calling out the defense publicly. Let this team, as constructed, face adversity with hopes of them being a better team in the future.
If Jones truly can’t help himself, maybe a lackluster trade for Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson, one of the reported names linked to Dallas, could help this defense go from atrocious to subpar. Maybe that’s why Stephen A. Smith quickly left Jones’s suite because he was informed Tuesday’s trades are just a series of small trades that don’t exactly move the needle. Hey, another Jonathan Mingo–like trade could be beneficial. That one didn’t work out, but taking a chance on young players in need of a change of scenery has been a strength for this franchise. Drafting offensive and defensive lineman is another area where the Cowboys excel.
So, again, the Cowboys should just stand pat before reloading with the Packers’ draft picks. Even Jones himself has admitted that his team isn’t a player away from turning this around. Here’s hoping that Jones was just boasting for the sake of ratings. There should be nothing to see in Dallas until the new league year opens in March.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Cowboys' Jerry Jones Should Stand Pat at NFL Trade Deadline.