OverDrive - Willson on the blockbuster Parsons trade, why he thinks the Cowboys won the trade, and why Parsons creates a dynamic pass rush in Green Bay

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

TSN Football Analyst Luke Willson on the blockbuster Miach Parsons trade, why he thinks the Cowboys won the trade, and why Parsons creates a dynamic pass rush in Green Bay.

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Loud, crowd, and all yours. No passports required, just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca. Or the free iHeartRadio app. Our boy, Luke, what surprises you more, that Dallas would actually trade Parsons or that the Packers would be the one to go get them? Dallas trading him probably.

But to be honest, I don't feel like, usually when there's a blockbuster trade here, I'm like, oh, like one side won this thing. I don't really feel good about this. And, Hayes, I know you're a Packers guy, And I'll have my reasoning. I obviously love Mike. I think he's a tremendous player.

But right now, I'm leaning towards if I had to pick who won this one, and we'll see. So it sounds like it's Kenny Clark. Kenny Clark and two first rounders. You're kidding me. Based on what? Okay, hey, hear me out on this. First off, when we got to see,

a lot of times these numbers get crazily overreported. We don't actually know the contract. Okay, so it'll happen when, depends who the leak, whoever the leak is, you know, If it's the agent side, they'll juice the numbers. Look at the deal that I signed. Right. So I look at the Packers right now, and I say, do you've got Love who's what, making,

I guess the signing bonus of 75, his annual salary is $55 million a year, Jordan Love here, which is a great sign. I'm not saying that. But now you have Micah as well. Is it the average 44? Yeah, it's higher, 47 maybe, yeah. so we've got a hundred million tied up in two guys okay and i get they're stars i get that haze but now let's keep going here right now and i think that division is sick i have a lot of praise for the

nfc north i have a lot of praise for it okay but right now the top dog in the nfc north until they're dethroned is the detroit lions and you know what the detroit lions have even though rag now even though ragnau retired they got a phenomenal offensive line and they got two running backs, they're absolute stars. I think Montgomery gets overshadowed because Jemir Gibbs is that good. He's one of the best backs in the league in my opinion. Yes, he is. And you get a guy in here in Micah Parsons who is not great against the run. So why I say, like, he's a tremendous, maybe, you know, top three pass rushers in the league and say he's number one, you know, I put Miles Garrett up there, T.J. Watts up there.

There's a couple other guys there in the combo, obviously, but Mike is right there. But Micah Parsons is not known as a very dominant run defender. I'm not saying he's bad, but he's nowhere near the prowess he has as a pass rusher. So now all of a sudden I'm sitting here and I'm like, dude, you've got to get a guy on the field that's got to stop, help stop Gibbs in Montgomery. And is Micah that guy for 47 million? I don't. And you've already tied up 55 in a quarterback? and then the last thing I'll say

I like the Packers and to be honest you guys know I would prefer that Minnesota or Green Bay wins that division as a personal thing. My last thing here is also I always revert back to the year that we won in Seattle

and we did have a ton of stars haze but the thing about was a lot of those stars were on rookie deals Sherman was young Cam Chancer was young Earl was younger Russ obviously was on a rookie deal. And what I felt hurt us later on, we were still a very good team, but when it came time

to get those guys paid, the veteran guys of Max Unger, you know, Red Bryant, maybe not the household name, Brandon Mebane, the guys that were tremendous players, but maybe not all pros, but were kind of the backbone of the team, we had to replace some rookies. So, again, I don't hate the move for Green Bay. you obviously got an absolute star in Micah, but I think there's going to be a lot of questions on this. And I haven't even gotten to the fact that this is the same guy that was lying down on a medical table, not paying attention to his teammates two weeks ago. Like, I don't love it as much for Green Bay as I think maybe the sticker shock has for a lot of Packers fans.

I'm sorry, Packers fans. I don't mean to burst or bubble, but I don't love it. Oh, I do. I love it. And listen, a lot of it is historical. I understand. But, and every era's different, every player's different, the cap's different. But they went out and got Reggie White back in the 90s. We saw what happened. They went out and got Charles Woodson. I hear you. Reggie's one of the two or three best defensive.

Listen, he plays a similar position. Does he not pass-vers? Like, Reggie's the king. I get it. Frankie, stop this guy. Reggie's the king. He's too happy right now, man. But Parsons is, like, look at the numbers, okay?

We've seen these tweets out there a bunch. but the defense, like statistical defense when Parsons is on the line, is on the field compared to when he's not in Dallas, it was outrageous. And he is, he's 26 years old. Yes, you're paying him a lot, but you're paying for his prime. You're not paying a guy who's 30, 31, 32, and you paid Jordan Love, who's also the same age. So if you're going to spend money, I'd want it on a 26-year-old quarterback and a 26-year-old pass rusher. They're not spending, they're not spending it on a running back in a left, you know,

in a tight end or something. It's your quarterback and your pass rusher. That's where the money should be going. So I actually think it's appropriate. I get it's a ton of money, and you've got to pay the Piper to get them. Clark, they were going to walk after this year anyway. His deal was up.

He's getting up there. There's your interior lineman, though, that is going to try to stop Gibbs or Montgomery or whatever, and he's going the other way. But you still have Rishon Gary. So you have Gary on one side, and you got Parsons on the other. That's lethal, man.

That's nasty. Dynamic edge rush. Listen, hey, I'm not here. I'm not disagreeing with you on any of those points, minus the Reggie White a bearer. Yes, I agree with all of that. Right. I agree with all of that.

I just, we'll see how it plays out. Again, I get the Kenny Clark thing from Abyssas side, but let's not also, like, two first-round pitches, potentially a lot of value. Depends on your GM for Jerry Jones, you'll probably butcher it, you know, but that's also a lot of value. It is, it is for sure. But it should be for a guy like that. 26-year-old, I just hope that Micah comes with a very, very good attitude. I think if you're a

Packers fan right now, that'll tip the scale where you're feeling good because, you know, between some of the comments he made last year about Mike McCarthy, some of the things he said on his podcast, some of the behavior, and I get these frustrated, you know, I don't think I'm just a stretch by saying how he was acting in the preseason was unprofessional. And I'm a guy who likes to push the envelope of being unprofessional on time. But this was off, this crossed the line. Yeah. You know, I just hope that he, if you're a Packers guy right now, Hayes,

what I think he'd like to see is a guy that has really bought into that. Because it's, in my opinion, and obviously I partial to Seahawks, but Green Bay is the coolest franchise in the league. You know, everything about it, where the stadium is, the history of Lambo. The fact that it's in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Yeah. You know, there's so much history. There's just a lot of unique things.

It's a pretty special situation to be in. Not that I've played for the Packers, but I've been to Lambeau and played there many times. You know, there's a lot of things that are cool about that place, and I just hope that he embraces that and really plays hard for that area. Luke, let's be really short-sighted here, like 2026 and 2027, these next couple years. Before we know what those picks are going to be,

what do you think this does for the Packers in the NFC North? I know it's one hell of a division, but if they get the best version of my best version of my... Michael Parsons. He's engaged. He's upright on the sideline. Everything's good. Everything's happy. What do you think this does to the north, to the NFC picture where there's a, it's wide open the NFC? Yeah, I'll be honest to me. At the moment, I would put them for me as their favorites of the NFC North. If everything you said, you know, hypothetically, and the reason being is I do think

that there's going to be a transition in Detroit. I still think Detroit will be a phenomenal team. either way. But losing Ben Johnson, you'll feel that a bit. But I also think losing Frank Rag now, you'll feel that as well. Like, that's just not a guy you can easily replace. And then Minnesota, the season to me is very dependent on J.J. McCarthy. And I'll tell you right now, you know, J.J. McCarthy, if Micah is humming off the edge and Rishon Gary is humming off the other edge, for anyone, let alone a guy who has

played very many snaps in the NFL. Nightman, sure. So I would definitely push, you know, the narrative that they are, the team, you know, to beat, so to speak. They were very good last year. They had a lot of good wins. But that division, like, it's very tight, guys. I said this last year, you know, even with the Bears, I'm not expecting the Bears to win that division, but their roster is low-key loaded as well.

If you were to ask me, I know a lot of people think AFC North, if you were to ask me the best division in football, it's no question. It's that NFC North. Totally agree. No question for me. If you kind of look at this from a Cowboys point of view, like, what are, I don't know, what are your big takeaways here from the team point of view? Like,

if Micah Parsons was acting, I don't know, if he was acting out of line, okay, guys would probably look at that and say, okay, man, see you later, like we, well, don't let the door hit you on the way out, but you think there's guys in that locker room that look at it and say, well, now we're not any closer to winning?

Like, where are the Dallas Cowboys in winning today? Yes and no. So what I'd say about Dallas right now is I do think the combo of C.D. Lamb and Pickens is going to be ridiculous. But defensively, it's one of those things where I'm like, you know, I guess, how should I say it's like, you look at that division, if you're being honest with yourself, are they in the same class as Philadelphia? No. You know, are they on the route to, you know, be a juggernaut with Washington? I would say no. So, like, I'm not a Jerry Jones guy. I don't want to come off as a Jerry Jones guy, but I don't hate this move. And when I'll say from like a player's perspective and I haven't run into anything, you know, to this exact degree, but I have been in some situations where when stars, superstars like Micah, they have issues with, you know, the front office, everybody, supports them, everybody on the team, in the locker room, I should say. We'll always side with our guys then. But when I saw the whole not paying attention in a preseason game and laying on the table kind of acting like a kid, that's a tough one for me as an ex-player.

And the reason being is, you know, when you're a guy who's in a lock to make the team and you're playing in preseason, there are a ton of guys in your roster that are fighting for their lives. And not just their hopes and dreams as an athlete. but it goes beyond what's on the field, especially in that league. It's so much pressure from families and situations. Everyone comes from a different spot. And it's like, I always remember sitting like, yeah, you're having fun on the sideline in the fourth quarter of preseason game, but you're like supporting the guys that have been

grinding all offseason that are fighting tooth and nail to make that last spot. And to have a guy be like, oh, man, I'm just utterly disrespecting this. All of a sudden, instead of talking about, hey, some third string rookie, a couple of veteran guys barely got a sniff who made a big play all the media is talking about you sitting on the bench like that is going to really sit poorly with a lot of guys from that locker and whether they'll say that or not so i think that when you get to that point where as a player is so frustrated that you don't even give a damn about your own teammates it's probably a good time to be like all right man let's get this guy out of here and and move on yeah that might have been a misstep by him but i'm willing to overlook it now that he's in green but yeah it wasn't the best look for him admittedly but I mean obviously it reached a point where both sides realized this wasn't going to work and Parsons maybe decided you're just not going to pay me and I know you're not going to pay me so I have to find a way to get out and it was silly and childish and stupid but ultimately when you went now that he's gone

Kenny Clark's a good player good player and he'll step in and plan the line I'm a little bit surprised that's the guy off the roster that they wanted or that they took but they did. Two first rounders and a defensive tackle is 29, longest serving Packer, I believe. But I just don't see how they're going to win this year in Dallas. And I'm not sure they were going to win with Parsons. I didn't have a lot of faith in them anyway,

but they're clearly a worst team, clearly, like regardless of everything he was doing. Defensively. Yeah, like significantly worse. I do think that their offense is, like it depends on back. Like, back, which is, I'm not. the biggest DAC guy, and I don't want to say I hate the guy, but if DAC plays like the contract they gave him, this team will win games. Again, like, with Ceding Lamb and Pickens, and that's

another huge question mark in Pickens and how he's going to behave and how he's going to act. But, like, that's as dynamic of a wide receiver duo as it gets. And theoretically on paper, you've got a $60 million quarterback throwing the football. So, like, I don't think they're going to be garbage offensively. But I don't know. it's, you know, it becomes a bit of a lot of question marks, and that's generally not a good deal. Well, and especially with the guy at the wheel being Jerry Jones, you know. Totally.

Put it this way. If the shoe was on the other foot, you look at the Packers and say they know something, like they saw something, they made a decision, I'm going to have faith in the way that they run their organization. Because it's Dallas and Jerry, you're never going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Like, maybe this does work out right, but no one sees that, happening because Jerry Jones is the guy at the helm. And if it's

true that the reason he decided to ultimately make this deal is because he thought he had a handshake deal with Parsons three months ago and wouldn't move off that, that's just buffoonery. Like that's all that is. It's buffoonery. And you wouldn't be surprised if that's actually

the truth. That's exactly. Based on reporting, it sounds like it is. He's like, I'm not making you another offer because I agreed, we agreed to something three months ago or whatever. You know, meanwhile, you're in the position you're in, and you're a cowboy fan. I also say totally, it's a very tough situation as well with, you know, for a new head coach in Schottenheimer.

Yes. And Shottie was my OC in Seattle for two seasons. Like, I know the man very well. And, like, I just, oh, no, like, again, you kind of go in there. And Shottie's obviously comes from a football family with his dad, and he's a good, football mine, but like I never really knew him to be like a, let's put it, a manager of emotions, you know, that's not really his, like when I was coached by him, obviously it was, I think 2019, 2020, you know, he was only our O.C. But it's like he was not like a super

emotional guy, if that makes sense. He's very kind of to the point. And it's just like you get thrown into Dallas. And it feels like we're talking about. anything but the actual football team. And that's not a good thing for a new coach. He needs to be all hands on deck as well and how to win ball games and he's got to deal with all this nonsense. It's just not a good thing.

I don't know what else to say. Well, and people are now insiders are, you know, talking a high profile executive, Jordan Schultz tweeting and saying, why didn't they do this in March and get this year's draft picks and get out in front? Like if you're going to move off them, you know, why not make that decision a while ago? How would you have known?

You thought you were going to get a deal done? If you truly had a handshake agreement at one point, you're like, well, this thing's getting done. Yeah, I guess so. This is like, this is the, the aftermath of a negotiation gone terribly wrong with probably so many more twists and turns than we think. Yeah, and what it'll be interesting, the reporting is going to come out on what other teams were calling and what other teams were putting offers in front of them and the Packers get them. Micah Parsons, a Green Bay Packer, had huge money. Packers in Dallas Sunday night football week four.

What a night that's going to be, man. What a night. Parsons going back to Dallas at like the end of September, a month from now. Over under three and a half, fax. Oh, you know. That night. He is rushing max effort every single time. I don't care if the Packers are up 55 to 3.

He's on the field. He's going to go up to the suite and sack Terry. He might Lawrence Taylor and just go back to the sideline and go, I didn't even know the play. I just said, I'm running after this cat, and this is the way it's going to go. And I love it. I love it, man. All right, Luke.

You know, go ahead, buddy. Final thoughts. Yeah. Another one of you got to think about, too, Quay Walker, like, this Packer team is loaded. Loaded. Yeah. Like, they're going to be very good. I agree.

They're young. I mean, they're really young. One thing I will say, like, Goudicust is starting to take a little bit of heat of, like, we get it. You got the youngest team. Like at some point, you've got to add some eight. Now, technically they're younger. Clark's 29.

Yeah, you can't have the youngest team for four years in a row. But you put this on top of McKinney and Cooper and Hobbs and you've got pieces. Yeah. And you know what? The pressure, yes, it's on Parsons, but really it's on Jordan Love now too. Like, if you got a defense that's legit now and you got weapons, Matthew Golden, apparently is having a great camp. We'll see Jacobs had a great year last year.

You got a couple of tight ends that are good, a decent veteran O line. Love has got a cook. this year, man. He's got to. Got to. Totally. Big time. All right, pal. Thanks for jumping in. We appreciate it. Of course. Talk soon. Yeah, you got it. Season's coming, hey. Season's coming, man.

We're on the clock next Thursday. You know we're hammering the Eagles, too. You know it. I don't care what that number is. Come on. Hammering the Eagles next Thursday. All right, buddy. We'll do it soon. There he is. Luke Wilson, our TSN football analyst. Micah Parsons traded from the Cowboys to the Green Bay Packers.

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