Jerry Jones calls Micah Parsons trade 'long-term' move for Dallas Cowboys

In late August, Jerry Jones sent a shockwave across the NFL when he traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. In return, the Dallas Cowboys received two first-round picks and defensive lineman Kenny Clark, and Jones said he was looking at the big picture with the move.

The Cowboys received a 2026 first-rounder and another in 2027 from the Packers, and they flipped a 2027 first-round pick for Quinnen Williams. The better of the two will go to the New York Jets, meaning Dallas could wind up moving one of the picks from the Parsons trade.

But the Cowboys still have two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. As a result, Jones said Dallas not only added to its current roster, but has the draft capital to continue building for the future after missing the playoffs this season.

“That case, specifically, that was a trade not just for this year,” Jones told Kay Adams and Michael Irvin on the Netflix Christmas pregame show. “But that was a long-term trade, at the time. I know we had skepticism about having that trade. Micah’s a great player. Great person, great player. Make no mistake about that.

“But we were able to – because of that, for the Cowboys – we’re able to get as many as five or six top players for the future. Not only do we have two of them in Williams and [Clark] on the squad today, but we have them for the future.”

Jerry Jones: Cowboys can ‘make amends’ for 2025

The Cowboys were eliminated from the postseason last week following a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and a Philadelphia Eagles win over the Washington Commanders. But with that, Jerry Jones had a message to fans.

By trading Micah Parsons, the Cowboys were able to get two key pieces of their defensive front. But along with the additional salary cap space without giving Parsons a contract extension, there’s still room to add to the roster.

“One of the things that I would share with our fans, in general, is that I have such positive feelings about what our future looks like because we not only have some outstanding players, building blocks – two of which came in that trade – but we have our available cap room, we have our draft picks,” Jones said. “All of those things are going to serve us well as we get out here and make amends for the year we’re having.”