Grading Packers’ Trade of Rashan Gary to Cowboys

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers managed to get something for nothing, so to speak, by trading Rashan Gary to the Dallas Cowboys just before the kickoff of free agency on Monday.

The deal is not final – there might be some contractual things the Cowboys want to get squared away – but Green Bay reportedly will get a fourth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft for the 2024 Pro Bowler. That’s better than nothing, which is what the Packers would have gotten had they released Gary – a decision that would have been equal parts finances and production.

Specifically: It’s a 2027 4th rounder for Gary. https://t.co/zluVs8L7u0
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2026

Coming off a Pro Bowl season and following the blockbuster Micah Parsons trade, Gary led the NFL with 7.5 sacks through seven games in 2025. It’s basically what everyone expected, with Gary making big plays as opposing offenses focused on Parsons.

Incredibly, though, he didn’t record another sack the rest of the season. When Parsons went down with a torn ACL at Denver, the Packers badly needed Gary to come to the rescue.

“I’ve just got to be myself,” Gary said a couple days after the Denver game. “You know, when guys are thinking that they need to do more than what they've been doing, you start to strain, start to try to find plays that's not there. And throughout the season, I've been doing a great job of being effective, being myself.

“I know if I keep playing at a high level, keep playing how I'm playing, the plays are going to come and it's going to be right what the team needs.”

Ultimately, it was all talk.

Gary announced via Instagram that he had been released; the post was deleted and a source said Gary had been hacked. A cynical person might believe that was nonsense because trade talks were ongoing.

Well, that was weird.https://t.co/CwlmJewQhZ
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) March 6, 2026

Rashan Gary’s Disappearing Act

The Packers were in complete control of the playoff game at Chicago.

Until they weren’t.

With Bears quarterback Caleb Williams leading a brilliant comeback, the Packers needed their pass rushers to get home. It was the perfect time for the $96 million defensive end to make a statement.

He did not. With the season on the line, Gary played 44 snaps – less than Kingsley Enagbare and Lukas Van Ness – and had zero sacks, one tackle and one quarterback hit.

“He’s never been a huge snap count guy, if you look at the course of his career,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after a win against the Giants in November, when Gary played barely half the snaps. “But every game could unfold a little bit differently, and I think JJ (Enagbare) has been doing a heck of a job. I'd say it's more a credit to how JJ has gone in there and done his job.”

Gary had always been an excellent run defender. However, when the Packers got trucked by Derrick Henry and the Ravens in Week 17, Enagbare played 60 snaps, Van Ness played 47 and Gary played just 34.

Gary had always been a high-effort player, too. However, there were scores of clips of Gary jogging behind the action when he failed to make the initial play.

Ultimately, when push came to shove, it seemed the coaches were content with Gary taking extended breathers. In the first eight games of the season, Gary played 60-plus percent of the snaps in all eight, with two-thirds playing time in four. In the three full games without Parsons, Gary played 57.8 percent in Week 16 at Chicago, 44.7 percent in Week 17 against Baltimore and 56.4 in the playoff game at Chicago.

Not Worth the Money

Gary signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension in 2023, when he was in the midst of a strong comeback from the torn ACL sustained in 2022. He was under contract for 2026 at a base salary of $18.0 million and 2027 at a base salary of $21.0 million. Including $800,000 in per-game roster bonus and a $700,000 workout bonus, Gary was due $19.5 million in cash for the upcoming season.

The Packers, who were over the salary cap to start the day after re-signing linebacker Nick Niemann and center Sean Rhyan, will save almost $11.0 million in cap space. They’ll need it to make any moves when the league-year opens for business on Wednesday. The dead-cap charge, however, will be just more than $17.0 million.

Only Jordan Love ($36.12 million) had a higher cap charge than Gary ($28.02 million), according to OverTheCap.com. Gary’s $24.0 million average ranks 12th among edge defenders.

That’s an untenable amount of money for a player who disappeared during the second half of the season. In the come-from-behind victory at Pittsburgh in Week 8, Gary had two sacks to give him 7.5 sacks in seven games.

That was it.

This from Stathead is incredible: From Game 8 through the end of the regular season, 337 players had at least a half-sack and 516 players had at least one tackle for loss. Gary had zero. Even cornerback Shemar Bartholomew, who was called up from the practice squad for the meaningless Week 18 game against Minnesota, had a tackle for loss. Even rookie Collin Oliver, playing in his first game since the Senior Bowl 11 months earlier, had a TFL.

At the Scouting Combine, general manager Brian Gutekunst seemed to keep the door open for Gary’s return when he said, “60 pressures, 7.5 sacks, that’s tough to replace. So, he’s on our roster and I expect him to play at that level or higher if he’s back next year, and we’ll see how that goes.”

Now, he is part of the Cowboys, where he will reunite with Kenny Clark.

Grading Trade of Rashan Gary

Ultimately, the contract extension given to Gary didn’t pan out. It was understandable at the time. Gary had a breakout season in 2021 and was on his way to big things in 2022 when he suffered a torn ACL. He got the extension in 2023 during the middle of a strong comeback season.

Gary, though, never became the player everyone expected and he talked so boldly about becoming.

Gary finished the season with 10 consecutive games without a sack. Parsons was on the field next to him for 6.5 of those, so it’s not as if his disappearing act was linked to the injury.

With hindsight being 20/20, the contract extension gets a D-plus.

The grade for the trade gets an A, with the Packers managing to get a pretty decent draft pick for a player most assumed would be released. The trade will move up to an A-plus if some of the savings is used to add a missing piece to a good-but-not-great defense.

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