New Report Reveals Cowboys Flatly Refused Micah Parsons's Last Attempt to Stay

Liam McKeone | Sep 2, 2025

Micah Parsons was traded to the Packers by the Cowboys last week. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Micah Parsons trade last week between the Cowboys and Packers was monumental, the sort of transaction that will be closely analyzed for years to come no matter who emerges the winner. What led to the trade— the breakdown of the relationship between Parsons and Dallas— remains a subject of much interest. On Tuesday, ESPN published a thorough report on how the trade came to be and revealed Parsons made one final effort to stay with the Cowboys that was flatly denied by Jerry Jones and the organization.

Per the report, Parsons's agent David Mulugheta reached out to Jones and the front office two days before the trade to Green Bay happened. He reportedly offered to do "whatever it took" to get a deal done and keep Parsons down south.

Jones was not interested and bluntly informed Mulugheta as much.

“Two days before Parsons became a Packer, the pass rusher's representatives made one last-ditch effort with the Cowboys -- in the form of an email," the article states. The note from Mulugheta to Jerry and Stephen Jones, as one source who viewed the correspondence recalls, acknowledged that a lot of things had been said in the media, perhaps some miscommunications along the way, but despite all of that, Parsons was still willing to do a deal that would keep him in Dallas. The letter said Parsons's representatives were willing to come to Dallas, jump on a video call, whatever it took to potentially hammer something out.

"Jerry Jones responded to the message, saying the Cowboys were prepping a trade and if Parsons wanted to play in Dallas in 2025, he would have to do so on his fifth-year option. Parsons would become a free agent in 2026, but the team could also use the franchise tag to prevent his departure at that point. Parsons would have to decide his next move if the Cowboys couldn't trade him, though a source close to him notes that Parsons never threatened to hold out and if healthy, he would have played on the option."

On its face it may not be terribly shocking to hear the Cowboys refused to engage. At that point the chasm between the two sides was significant. Jones had clearly made up his mind that he wasn't going to pay Parsons and no last-ditch effort from the agent was going to sway him.

But the fact remains: the Cowboys apparently had one last chance to fix everything, keep Parsons terrorizing quarterbacks in Dallas, and let bygones be bygones. They declined that opportunity.

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed