Fascinating news ahead of the NFL season opener between the Cowboys and Eagles with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that not only did the Philadelphia Eagles try to make a trade for Micah Parsons, but they likely offered more than the Cowboys got from the Packers.
Appearing on First Take, Thursday, Schefter reported that the Eagles were aggressive in trying to land Parsons, but that Jerry Jones wasn’t open to discussing a potential deal with Philadelphia, as he didn’t want to deal the All-Pro pass rusher inside the NFC East. It makes sense, but it’s also fascinating to wonder what an offer from the Eagles could have looked like that would have been better than what Dallas got.
As a reminder, the Cowboys ended up with:
Two firsts is likely the starting point for a deal, so it comes down to the potential player. Kenny Clark is an excellent defensive tackle, but he’s also 29-years-old at at the tail-end of his prime. That makes someone like Nolan Smith Jr. a player to really look at in a potential deal here.
Smith Jr. would have been a replacement pass rusher for Parsons on the ascent in his NFL career. He’s 24, and had 6.5 sacks in 2024, despite only starting 10 games. That would have been the kind of player who might not step in and help as much as Clark right now, but long term could be a defensive player to build around — similar to how the Cowboys built around Parsons in the past.
One of the big things Jones’ expressed was that the Cowboys had to get better against the run, and Smith would have fit the bill with a 77.8 PFF grade against the run last year (14th among edge rushers), while Kenny Clark finished with a 57.2 (83rd among DTs).
It’s all a moot point, because the deal was never going to happen so Parsons had a shot at taking down Dak Prescott on national TV to start the season.
