The ongoing “He Said, He Said” relationship between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons has proven to be almost as entertaining in their time apart as it was when the 2 were working together.
Parsons added to his week of revelations with another stunner on Saturday, when he said the Cowboys were willing to trade him to the Philadelphia Eagles before the season but he pulled the plug on the deal when he realized the Eagles were going to have to give up NFL All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter to get him.
“There was one person that I had to play with that if he was gone I did not want to be there — and that was Jalen Carter,” Parsons said on Saturday in a Bleacher Report podcast conversation with Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown and Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young.
For Jones, the story was much different — he didn’t want the Cowboys to have to face Parsons twice every year. Which was smart.
Cowboys Eventually Put ‘Poison Pill’ Clause in Trade
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cowboys included a “Poison Pill” clause when they traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in August that included language intended to block him from playing for the Eagles until at least 2027.
The Cowboys traded Parsons for Green Bay’s 2026 and 2027 first round picks and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark. The Packers immediately signed Parsons to a 4-year, $186 million contract extension that made him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history.
“The previously unreported condition states that if the Packers decide to trade Parsons to a team in the NFC East division — the Eagles tried to trade for him last summer before being rebuffed — then Green Bay would owe Dallas its 2028 first-round draft pick, sources involved in the trade told ESPN,” Schefter wrote on Sunday, November 9. ” … League sources said these poison pill conditions clearly and smartly were put into place to block Parsons from winding up in Philadelphia, not far from where he grew up and one day wanted to play. The poison pill conditions apply to this season and 2026, according to sources, meaning the Packers don’t have a clear path to trade Parsons to another NFC East team until 2027 at the earliest.”
Parsons Would Have Been Strange Fit in Philly
While Carter would have been welcomed with open arms in Philly — the trade would have been pre-Spitgate — it may have been a frostier welcome for Parsons in Philadelphia.
Late in the 2024 season, the Cowboys needed the Eagles to defeat the Washington Commanders in Week 16 to keep their playoff hopes alive. Cheering for the Eagles wasn’t something Parsons could wrap his head around.
“Nah, at this point, it’s (expletive) Philly, now,” Parsons told The Athletic’s Jon Machota on December 19. “Even if we got eliminated, like, I gotta crush Philly. (Expletive) them. I hate them now. I be seeing them talk so much on social (media).”
That hatred has extended to Parsons’ time in Green Bay — he was fined $12,172 for fighting against the Eagles in Week 10.
Micah Parsons: Cowboys Wanted Eagles All-Pro in Trade