It still doesn't feel real that Micah Parsons won't suit up for the Dallas Cowboys when they take on the Eagles on Thursday night. That is the biggest storyline leading up to kickoff, with more fallout emerging from league insiders by the day.
Trading Parsons is one thing. It's easy to envision a future where the Cowboys come out ahead, but what makes it unforgivable is that they sent him to the Packers, a team that’s tormented Dallas fans for over a decade. Why not send him to the AFC or at least an irrelevant NFC squad?
Well, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler revealed on 105.3 The Fan that the Panthers inquired about Parsons, but they never made a formal offer all because of one baffling sticking point.
Cowboys would have loved to trade Micah Parsons to the Panthers
"I know the Carolina Panthers inquired. They did not make a formal offer, but they did inquire so they were in talks," Fowler said. "We heard some whispers from league circles that Micah had interest in certain teams. Green Bay was one, but like a little bit of Baltimore, a little bit of Kansas City, Philadelphia. Some of those teams didn’t really look into it. I know KC didn’t. There wasn’t a lot of momentum in some of those other teams, but Carolina did look into it and Dallas would’ve had reason to look into that because Derrick Brown. So that made some sense, but Carolina ultimately didn’t want to move Brown and didn’t move on that.”
It's well-documented at this point that the Cowboys wanted a standout defensive tackle in return in any trade involving Parsons. Brown certainly fits that bill.
The No. 7 overall pick in 2020, Brown made a Pro Bowl just two years ago, but he suffered a torn meniscus in Week 1 of last season and missed the rest of the season. While a huge piece to Carolina's defense, if there was ever a time to trade Brown, it was this offseason.
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You can argue that no defender should be off the table if it meant acquiring Parsons, a generational talent who's on a Hall of Fame trajectory just four years into his career. That the Panthers balked when Dallas demanded Brown in return explains why they haven't made the playoffs in eight years.
Let's make one thing clear: we would not have traded Parsons. However, sending him to Carolina would have made it significantly more palatable. They haven't been relevant since Cam Newton was under center, and David Tepper is among the worst owners in the NFL.
Of course, Parsons would've had to be willing to negotiate an extension with the Panthers. No team would trade for him without a guarantee that he'd sign.
Parsons said in his introductory press conference with the Packers that he didn't have any say in where he was traded, but Fowler reported he was interested in Green Bay. He has a good friendship with Jordan Love and the Packers are clearly ready to win now.
Regardless, it would’ve been interesting to see what might have happened if the Panthers hadn’t walked away when the Cowboys asked for Brown in return. The whole saga might've gotten a lot uglier.