Do Packers Have Ability to Trade for Micah Parsons?

Can the Green Bay Packers trade for Micah Parsons?

The short answer: The Packers absolutely could choose to pull off a blockbuster trade for the Dallas Cowboys’ All-Pro, who has reiterated his desire to play elsewhere. But, ultimately, it comes down to what they are willing to trade, and if they are willing to accept the tradeoffs, to make it happen.

Let’s dive in.

Parsons is on his fifth-year option salary of $24 million. The Packers could execute a trade and slide in his contract without causing an issue while under offseason salary-cap rules. Russ Ball would immediately tear up his existing contract, extend a new deal of at least $40 million per year, and the resulting 2025 cap number would be significantly less than the $24 million on his current contract.

The Packers’ typical veteran extension contract structure maximizes initial cash payments with lower salary caps in the first two years that tend to balloon in the later years. That said, a contract worth more than $40 million per season would put a significant dent into the 2025 and 2026 cap years.

Time for the tradeoffs.

First the Cowboys would need a treasure chest of draft picks to be willing to part with their four-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro player. Let’s just say two first-round picks (or player equivalents) plus maybe more. When I think of first-round picks, I equate them to eight years of premium talent under team control, so I view that the Packers would need to sacrifice 16 years of potential first-round, in-house talent for Parsons at age 26.

"I'ma win wherever I go."

Micah Parsons just dropped this Allen Iverson sound on a new TikTok post with photos of him waving goodbye.

(📽️ @MicahhParsons11) https://t.co/yiGv8JT3Tu pic.twitter.com/eHDcbtpD9r
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 22, 2025

Next is factoring in who wouldn’t return in 2026 because Parsons is here. My early math has the Packers at $2 million over the cap already in 2026 – effectively break-even – and I’m not even accounting for any of their 11 scheduled unrestricted free agents plus more restricted and exclusive-rights players who are facing free agency.

Surely, the Packers would like some of these players to return. Even without Parsons, they’ll face tough choices of which free agents to bring back and which veteran players they may need to release to be cap-compliant in 2026. Layering in a Parsons mega-contract would only further complicate the calculus and decision-making process.

Not only would Parsons take away directly from the 2026 cap availability, but his 2025 contract would cut into the significant rollover the Packers need to even be at their current break-even status pre-Parsons.

Combining the draft picks needed and the existing 2026 salary-cap hurdles brings me to the third tradeoff: A trade for Parsons would be an “all-in” declaration for the Packers. As such, we would see a return to restructurings, void years and can-kicking to satisfy the salary cap. Running up the “cap credit card” is a short-term fix to fuel an all-in mindset but comes with long-term financial pain when the bill comes due, as we saw in Green Bay after the team traded Aaron Rodgers.

“I would say I would expect the #Packers to be among the teams really interested” in Micah Parsons, Ian Rapoport said on The Pat McAfee Show.

Here's the story, with a quick cameo (from an upcoming, more in-depth story about the finances) by @KenIngalls.https://t.co/rKAbsrHnmI
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 19, 2025

What if the Cowboys wanted a player and asked for Rashan Gary as part of the package? The issue with Gary is the Packers triggered an $8.7 million roster bonus for this season. So, even if they traded him, they would be on the hook for that in cash and cap. In addition, they would have more dead cap from his signing bonus proration, restructure proration and current-year workout bonus.

Let’s combine the 2025 and 2026 years into one to compare. Gary stays: $53.8 million in cap, $36.8 million in cash. Gary moves: $35.0 million in cap, $9.4 million in cash. So, including him in a trade would create $18.8 million in cap and save $27.4 million in cash over this two-year period. Plus, another $22.5 million in cap and cash for 2027 would come off the books.

For me, it’s difficult, but not impossible, to see the Packers keeping Gary and Parsons on the roster in 2026 given their financial squeeze and number of pending free agents to re-sign or replace. If Lukas Van Ness brings his trending improvement onto the field in the regular season, the Packers would be wise to leverage his much cheaper contract and longer runway over Gary.

This leads to another potential tradeoff: Bringing in Parsons may lead the Packers to end their relationship with Gary earlier than the three years remaining on his contract. If the Cowboys want Gary in the deal, are the Packers willing to waste the $8.7 million roster bonus in addition to losing the player and draft picks? Or do they hold onto Gary for an all-in type 2025 with the potential to trade in 2026 to recover some of the capital used to get Parsons?

So, can the Packers trade for Parsons? Absolutely. However, I think the more important question is are the Packers willing to pay the tradeoff costs triggered by trading for Parsons?

I tend to be skeptical that the Packers would be willing to pay the premium draft capital, say goodbye to contributing veterans, revert to a can-kicking salary cap strategy, and send away their current top pass rusher in Gary all to make it happen.

I am sure conversations have happened between Green Bay and Dallas – it would be foolish to not at least pick up the phone. However, I believe Brian Gutekunst would rather have his scouts figure out how to draft the “next Micah Parsons” instead of paying the costs of trading for the guy in Dallas.

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Zach Tom was thrown out of #Packers-Seahawks joint practice today for his role in the big fight. Here's what he had to say afterward. ⬇️https://t.co/Jv9UiErfGX
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 21, 2025