The Micah Parsons trade saga may be in the rearview mirror, but it’s still leaving skid marks across the Dallas Cowboys’ 2025 season. On Wednesday, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb opened up about the months-long standoff that ended with Parsons being shipped to the Green Bay Packers just before the season kicked off-and his comments offer a rare, candid look inside a locker room that was caught off guard by the whole situation.
“As his teammate and as his brother, I wish I would have known what the situation would have been and we wouldn’t have dragged it out,” Lamb said, reflecting on the drawn-out contract drama that ultimately saw one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive players leave Dallas.
Let’s rewind for a second. Parsons, a two-time All-Pro and the heartbeat of the Cowboys defense, had been pushing for a contract extension throughout the offseason.
Despite his clear value on the field, negotiations between him and team owner/general manager Jerry Jones stalled. Parsons still showed up for mandatory minicamp in June and was present at training camp, though he didn’t participate due to a lingering back issue.
That presence-pads on, helmet in hand-gave teammates like Lamb the impression that a deal was imminent.
“Let’s just prepare to have him,” Lamb recalled thinking. “As we go through our preparation and seeing him out there in his pads, we’re like, ‘Any day now.’ And that day never came for us.”
Instead, the Cowboys made a blockbuster move in late August, sending Parsons to Green Bay in exchange for two first-round picks and veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark. It was a headline-grabbing deal, but one that left Dallas reeling on the field in the early going. Without Parsons anchoring the defense, the Cowboys stumbled to a 3-5-1 record heading into their Week 10 bye.
Jones did try to patch things up at the trade deadline, bringing in defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson to shore up the front seven. Those moves helped stabilize the defense, but the damage had already been done. Dallas missed the playoffs and finished the season at 7-9-1-a frustrating outcome for a team that entered the year with high expectations.
Looking back, there’s a sense that the Cowboys may have misplayed their hand. Trading Parsons before the draft could have given Dallas more time and flexibility to retool the defense during the offseason, rather than scrambling midseason to fill the massive void left by his departure. Instead, the team waited too long, and the ripple effects were felt all year.
For Lamb and the rest of the locker room, the Parsons saga wasn’t just about business-it was personal. Losing a teammate of that caliber, especially under murky circumstances, clearly left a mark.
And while the Cowboys will move forward with a new-look defense, the question lingers: What could this team have been if Parsons had stayed-or if the front office had made their move sooner?
One thing’s for sure: in a league where timing is everything, the Cowboys may have waited just a little too long.