Jerry Jones spent more time promoting his Netflix documentary the last two weeks than negotiating a contract for the most valuable defensive player in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys have traded Micah Parsons to the Packers in a stunning move that could go down as the worst in franchise history if Parsons helps Green Bay win their fourth Super Bowl.
Given the magnitude of the trade, the Cowboys called an emergency press conference for Thursday evening. In a desperate attempt to justify the move, Jones claimed trading Parsons was in the team’s best interest now and moving forward because it improves their run defense.
“Without being too broad obviously we did think it was in the best interest of our organization not only for the future but right now as well,” Jones said.
On top of calling Micah “Michael” a handful of times, he explained in great detail that it takes many players to win in the NFL and that the draft picks the Cowboys acquired in return could net them “Pro Bowl-type players” in the draft. Jerry and Stephen also made sure to flex that the picks could be used to trade for another impact player to help the team win now.
So what is Micah Parsons? Well, he joined Packers legend Reggie White as the only players in NFL history with 12 or more sacks in each of their first four seasons. That’s Hall of Fame-level production that the Cowboys traded for a nose tackle past his prime and two first-round picks that will likely fall in the mid to late 20s unless the Packers completely fall short of expectations.
The crux of Jones’ argument, though, was that Dallas improved their run defense. Did they just realize that defending the run was an issue? It’s been the single biggest thing holding the Cowboys back from winning in January going back several years now. Their moves this offseason are not indicative of a team that was worried about its run defense.
That could have been accomplished by trading for a veteran nose tackle, and not offloading the second-best pass rusher in the world. But we all know that this trade boiled down to one thing and one thing only: Jerry’s pride.
