Cowboys could have received better draft capital from this NFL team in Micah Parsons trade

Dan Guttenplan

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Cowboys could have received better draft capital from this NFL team in Micah Parsons trade image

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has admitted that he narrowed the pool of potential trade partners in the Micah Parsons deal by requiring another team to include an experienced defensive tackle.

But if he prioritized draft compensation rather than an experienced run-stopper, he might have chosen a different trade partner in the Carolina Panthers. According to ESPN NFL senior reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Panthers inquired about Micah Parsons before the Cowboys made the trade with the Cowboys.

Jones has been criticized for not getting enough back in the Parsons deal, as the insistence on receiving a defensive tackle limited him to just two future first-round picks for one of the best defensive players in the game. The Cowboys also received defensive tackle Kenny Clark, a declining player who will turn 30 in October.

Even if the Panthers were only willing to offer two first-round draft picks in a potential deal for Parsons, the picks would likely be much higher than the selections the Packers offered. The Panthers finished 5-12 in 2024, while the Packers were 11-6. That slotted the Panthers with the eighth pick in each round of the 2025 NFL Draft, while the Packers selected 23rd in each round.

The Panthers return their head coach, Dave Canales, and their quarterback, Bryce Young, so the prospect of marked improvement in 2025 seems unlikely. ESPN has set the over-under on the Panthers' projected win total at 6.5, and they have 150-1 odds of winning the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the Packers' over-under for wins is 9.5, and their odds of winning the Super Bowl are 14-1.

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Dan Guttenplan

Dan Guttenplan is a freelance writer with The Sporting News.