The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Dallas Cowboys TRADE Micah Parsons to Green Bay Packers

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

John Middlekauff REACTS to Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys trading their star edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for DT Kenny Clark and 2 1sts. John reaffirms his commitment to the Green Bay Packers as NFC North winners and believes they bolstered their defense to Super Bowl contender status. Next, John debates whether this was the right move for the Dallas Cowboys given the amount of money they've invested into QB Dak Prescott and the offense. John wraps up by debating whether the Parsons trade has similarities to when LA Charges LB Khalil Mack was traded from the Oakland Raiders to the Chicago Bears in the 2018 NFL season. 00:21 - Cowboys trade Micah Parsons to Packers10:12 - DraftKings11:30 - Micah Parsons-Khalil Mack trade comparisons Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Well, we just had some breaking news. I was out on a walk. My phone starts blowing up. I cruise back by the pool. I look up and I see on the television NFL network and the bartender looks at me. He's like, can you believe this? I say, I kind of can't. Now, listen, this news would have been shocking three weeks ago. No one would have believed that Jerry Jones traded Micah Parsons. but I do think the moment that everything happened at the last preseason game, showing up eating nachos, him laying on the training table. A couple days ago, him getting, him being in the airport, claiming he was going to get a second opinion.

It kind of felt like it was at the point of no return. And so I guess my initial reaction is I'm not that surprised that this ended in a divorce. Now, I think big picture, you shouldn't be in the business of getting rid of high-end pass rushers. we have seen that happen once for a guy going into his second contract in the last six, seven years. And it was Khalil Mack when the Raiders traded him to the Bears. And obviously, all pro helped the Bears immediately become one of the best defenses. I do think there's potential impact for that. I think it'll be one of those situations where his back feels a lot better when he arrives in the Green Bay facility.

He's on the practice field. I would imagine they're practicing on Monday. but just a historic move. And I do think when it comes to the Cowboys and Jerry Jones, they kind of hit the tipping point of like what's going on. We've been talking a lot about this, the Jerry Jones, Al Davis angle, and the situation just being pretty chaotic, not making much sense. You know, I understand you couldn't take Mike McCarthy seriously

because you thought he should have got you over the hump in some of those playoff games. but when you move on from Mike McCarthy and you go with Brian Schadenheimer, who might be a nice guy, no one was hiring him to be their offensive coordinator, let alone their head coach. So maybe they know, like, we're not going to be that good anyway. Let's hit the reset button. Let's get a couple ones. Let's remove that money.

Give us some wiggle room. We're obviously paying DAC and CD Lamb a ton. Most people would say our defense isn't that good with Micah Parsons on the field. So basically hit a huge reset. And now it's on the organization. to pivot and make good picks with this. Listen, I pick Green Bay to win this division before this trade. I think they're going to be really good.

I mean, they won 11 games last year. They won one divisional game. And their quarterback got hurt in week one. So I would expect the Green Bay Packers to be really good. So that pick is going to be probably minimum 24 with a chance to be, I don't know, as high as 31, 32. I think they're a Super Bowl contender. Now, we've got some question marks with the quarterback.

for sure, in LaFleur and Goudicans, who have a new president now with Murphy retiring. Obviously, there's some pressure, but this is, it's kind of the polar opposite of typically what both these organizations do. Typically, Jerry has been very emotional with his guys and given them huge contracts. Dax, C.D. Lamb, Micah Parsons, Tony Romo, Des Bryant. I mean, he's done it for years, and rightfully so. I mean, we're talking Tyron Smith, Zach Martin, really, really high-end players. I don't blame them. Now, we could argue how the negotiations, how we've waited to the last

second, like, how much money has Jerry cost himself by negotiating against what? But, like, he has never done this. He has not been Bill Belichick punning on people. You know, you go back to watching that documentary when they traded Herschel Walker.

It's funny how that move gets remembered. It's like they traded their best player. They were awful. They were a horrendous football team. That's not that weird. It's like, remember a couple years ago when the Panthers traded McAfrey? The organization sucked. It wasn't that weird to trade him. Now, I

was four years old, so I can't exactly go like apples to apples on all the trades over the course of NFL history. But when you trade guys in their prime and just, you know, for three straight years, you were a 12-win team and he was your best defensive player, you're the Dallas Cowboys.

It's just, it's a historic move. And it's listen, I give the Packers credit because they took a lot of shit for a lot of years, especially with Ted Thompson. You know, they got a lot of credit for the Aaron Rogers move. But it was like, hey, go out and make a big swing, get aggressive, do something bold. It's like they never quite did this. This is something that, you know, John Schneider has done.

The 49ers, the Rams obviously, have done it a ton. A move Howie Roseman would make. It was always funny to me whenever I'd see the odds. This was like a month ago. If the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons, the Eagles, Jerry Jones, you can call them whatever you want. The last place on this planet he was ever going to trade. The Eagles could have offered him seven first rounders, seven second rounders, Lane Johnson, he was never trading him to the Eagles.

It was never going to happen. But he traded him in the division, or not in the division, but to an NFC team. So I think you're, I get the Cowboys credit on this one, because ultimately this move happens because of Jerry Jones and obviously Stephen Jones as well. They're acknowledged we're not very good. Like they're telling you not very good, and the Packers are telling you we think we're a player away. because unlike when the Bears traded for Khalil Mack,

they were a player aware of a defense, and they immediately became a great defense. They had Mitch Trubisky, who couldn't make like seven of the nine required throws to be an NFL quarterback. So it was never going to... Now, we're going to find out about Jordan Love, but they believe internally we got a guy

that we can win within the playoffs. Hell, a couple years ago, we beat the Cowboys. That's what they're telling themselves. We have a coach that's won a bunch of playoff games. We have a defensive coordinator that immediately improved our defense. This is the thing about the NFL. This is not Major League Baseball. This is not even basketball where sometimes it's like, yeah, let's just, let's trade this guy because we don't want to max this guy. Every team, the Bengals, the Packers don't have an owner. You can pay a guy

freights of cash. They just gave him a hundred and almost 40 million dollars guaranteed. If Micah Parsons doesn't have his, you know, catastrophic injury, he's going to see every penny of this contract. Like the guaranteed, the non-guaranteed, he's going to see it all. And let's be real on this. When you make a move like this, you're not just, let's not about pro bowls and all pros. It's about you becoming the heartbeat of our organization, the heartbeat of our defense, and helping us make runs in the playoffs. Because it's different because he was a free agent. But when Mike Holmgren and Ron Wolf signed Reggie White, it changed the franchise. And obviously he's, I mean, one of the greatest players of all time. I'm not saying Micah Parsons is that,

because he's not. Like, he's not even the best defensive player in the league. But he's damn good. and this is a team that has just since what, Clay Matthews 15 years ago, like who's been their kind of stalwart up front? Remember they drafted the dude from Iowa, I think Van S. Didn't even start in college. Newsflash hasn't been that good in the pros. But Goudicans, LaFleur, they put their nuts on the table, and sometimes you've got to do that in life.

And Jerry did too. He's like, I'm just, I'm over this. We're not good. I'm not paying three guys that combined $500 million to win $6. seven games. And I do think with that Eagles game right around the corner on Thursday night, he just had enough. It didn't want to go into that situation. You know, if you couldn't get a deal done with Micah, if you weren't willing to pay him this, to just get your teeth kicked in and have Mike on the sideline, eating sunflower seeds and sweats. You know, with Brian Schadenheimer,

immediately everyone acting like he's over his head, it would have been a very, very toxic situation. And it had gotten weird and toxic and it clearly crossed the line, I would say, these last four or five days in most places. Now, I think the difference of the cowboys and organizations, let's use the Packers, like, Goudicans and LaFleur did a really, really good job when it got weird with Aaron Rogers, right? They didn't have some owner making comments nonstop and adding fuel to the fire. And listen, maybe Jerry knew that this was going to be the end game. maybe he knew the way this situation was going to end was going to be in a trade. And he knew he had offers.

They had been taking calls. Got reported when I was lying in bed. Hawaii might be in America, but it's a different world. The time zones way crazy. It's like you just feel completely out of it. So you're like four hours late. Even like 6 a.m. You're checking things that are going on.

It's like they're not just taking calls now. They're listening to them. That tells you everything you need to know. Now, I do think over the last couple days, they probably realize like, fuck it. we're not doing this. For whatever reason, Jerry wouldn't deal with Micah's agent. You know, sometimes I think when egos get involved in contracts, especially of this magnitude,

like it's hard to just swallow your pride. And clearly Jerry's at the point where there's no pride swalling. That wasn't going to happen. And listen, Moggetta wasn't swalling his pride either. So it's like, you're not going to call me and it had gotten really weird. And now he's on the Packers because the Packers like, yeah, we'll do deal with the guy. What does he want?

Two first round picks, Kenny Clark and $140 million guaranteed. Done. See it. And now you look at the NFC North that's pretty stacked. I had the Packers winning this division three months ago, two months ago, one month ago, and again today. I haven't even looked at the odds. I'm sure they've got, I know the Super Bowl odds went from like 17 to 1 to 12 to 1. But, you know, you look at the Minnesota Vikings, a lot of pressure on JJ McCarthy, Caleb Williams. Does his head coach even like them?

And the Lions, two new coordinators. the Packers, Land Micah Parsons, historic deal. What a moment. The NFL, man. We get one of these every couple years, an enormous trade right before the start of the season. And final thought here. And this is just hit record and let it rip, so I'm just kind of freelancing here. You know, the Cowboys play the Eagles from recording this in about seven days.

And the Eagles are basically a touchdown favorite. Now, granted, they're at home, and they're defending Super Bowl champs. That thing could get really, really ugly. And sometimes when you have the negativity of a move like this, and I had a front row seat, I lived in the Bay Area, I was talking and covering. I hate that word covering. I'm not a beat reporter.

But for my business, I talked a lot about the Raiders and had been around that team a lot. And that move with Khalil Mack, it just hung over like a dark cloud for several years. And I just, wonder, and listen, I would take Khalil Mack in his prime at the same age over Micah Parsons, but very similar situations. So you get that elephant in the room of Micah Parsons going to this bright lights team, this team that plays in a ton of marquee games. It can be hard to shake that

situation. You know, this guy that felt like he was going to be a cowboy for a decade minimum to now being on the Green Bay Packers. It's one thing when you just kick a guy into oblivion and you just send them to like the Jags. People like, you middle guy, if you always beat on the Jags, I'm sorry, that's just the team that comes to mind. But when you send them to the Green Bay Packers, who even when they're not as good are still good

and feel like a lock to basically always be in the playoffs, it can feel worse. Now here's a thing, like what's Jerry going to do? Fire his GM. You know, this isn't a Joe Shane moment on the phone talking about Sakelon Barkley. Jerry's the boss. Jerry makes all these decisions.

Like this is the thing about Brian Schott and I remember. we know he has no juice. Like it's like what players looking at Brian Schottenheimer, like he's making any important decisions? Of course not. That's not the way it works. But this feels like it can be a black cloud over the organization. And some of the parallels with Al Davis, you know,

when they got Jamarcus Russell, and then it just started getting really, really weird at the end. And that's kind of what it feels like right now with Jerry. And a ton of pressure. I mean, the pressure all falls on DAC. You know, I mean, let's face it, part of the reason that they pay them a lot of money isn't because he's Mahomes or Josh Allen. It's all the intangible stuff. Incredible leader. Incredible, like, just guy with the team running,

handling the offense, handling the personalities in the locker room. He's kind of the heartbeat of like their character standpoint of the intangibles of the Dallas Cowboys. And now even more falls on him. Because unlike the last couple years, like Mike McCarthy was a grown-up. Won a ton of games and handled Aaron Rogers and handled the Brett Farf's situation, had been under the bright. Like Brian Chattanoimer, I know he comes from, you know, NFL royalty, a very famous dad who had a ton of success in the league for a long time. But this is a guy over 50 years old that was never going to be a head coach.

And now the pressure to me kind of circumvents him because no one even takes him seriously to begin with and goes on the quarterback. And maybe Jerry goes, that's what we're paying him, $60 million a year for. But man, I just, I think this thing could get ugly and it can get ugly really The volume. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.

I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it out. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions.

Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. But, you know, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care. you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite on Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an

a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff

nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo's Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Winning on Clay is an art. The rallies are relentless. And at the French Open, only the toughest survive. I'd know. I competed there for decades. Join me, Renee Stubbs, on the Renee Stubbs' tennis podcast for no nonsense breakdowns of the biggest matches, the toughest players, and the moments that define Roland Garris. She's an outsider to win the French win. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lerner-Rabakina is arguably the best player in the world right now

and I actually can win on any surface. Listen to the Renee Stub's tennis podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed Human.