If you were a Packers fan when the Micah Parsons news hit, you probably remember the moment like it happened yesterday.
For me, it was on the drive to work in Denver, about a block from home, when a Twitter alert flashed across my phone. It was nothing but a couple of lines packed with exclamation points, and that was enough.
I knew. From there, the commute turned into a blur of bad traffic on I-25 and rapid-fire texts to everyone I knew - and a few people I barely knew - because I couldn’t keep it to myself.
I called my fiancée, too, even though she didn’t have the context to fully understand why I was so fired up. Micah Parsons was a Green Bay Packer.
A year later, that trade still feels like one the Packers would make again without blinking, even if the ending of the first season didn’t land the way anyone wanted. Green Bay gave up two first-round picks and Kenny Clark, the last remaining Ted Thompson pick on the roster. Losing those draft picks stings, especially if you live for draft season, but Parsons’ impact was immediate in a way those picks could never match.
The timing only made the whole thing feel bigger. The deal came after preseason games and training camp had already wrapped, so Parsons’ first appearance came in a real game.
That made his debut feel electric, like the Packers had somehow pulled off something impossible. The crowd’s reaction to his first tunnel introduction said plenty about the moment.
He didn’t waste time making his presence felt. On Green Bay’s first defensive drive against Detroit, the Lions faced a 3rd-and-7, and Parsons came on to replace Rashan Gary.
He beat Penei Sewell with an inside move and helped force the incompletion. Later, he picked up his first sack as a Packer, a moment that looked every bit as dominant as the hype promised.
From there, the production piled up. Parsons finished the season with 12.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, 14 QB hits, 79 pressures and 51 QB hurries. Per PFF, he won 22.6 percent of his rushes and finished as the second-highest-graded pass rusher in the league, behind only Myles Garrett.
Still, the raw totals only tell part of the story. Parsons kept turning up in the biggest moments.
By the end of the season, the Packers were even playing walk-on music for him in the fourth quarter, like he was coming in to close out games. He sacked Dak Prescott from behind to stop a touchdown run that would have won it for Dallas.
He had a sack and forced fumble in the fourth quarter against the New York Giants. He stuffed a run on fourth down against Detroit on Thanksgiving.
The game that really made the impact impossible to ignore came against the Arizona Cardinals. Parsons took over the night with a career-high three sacks.
He got one on 3rd-and-goal in the first quarter, another on 3rd-and-goal in the fourth with the game tied at 20, and then came through again with 30 seconds left as Green Bay held a 27-23 lead. The Packers won, and the message was unmistakable.
Of course, the season didn’t end the way Green Bay wanted. The injury in Denver - a game I was in attendance for and would rather not revisit in detail - took away the momentum the Packers had built and left everyone wondering what might have happened in the postseason. The feeling was that, if Parsons had stayed healthy, that playoff game would have been at Lambeau and the result would have been different.
Even now, though, there’s a downside to simply missing him. I would have loved to see him in training camp, riding bikes and practicing with everyone else. Parsons is the kind of player you want to appreciate every chance you get, because he feels like a future Hall of Famer you don’t take for granted.
The good news is that his return is getting closer, even if the exact date is still unknown. And if Green Bay made that trade again today, plenty of Packers fans would be sending the same frantic texts all over again.
In Other News...
Packers Trade Buzz Around Josh Sweat Just Got Very Real
The Packers and Cardinals had more than just a joint practice to sort through in Green Bay, where the two head coaches who are brothers watched their teams get a firsthand look at each other. The setting only added to the intrigue around Josh Sweat, because the edge rusher has been linked to Green Bay for a while now and the interest does not sound like idle offseason chatter.
Reports have suggested Arizona could be open to a package built around a player and a draft pick, while Sweat is said to want to land in Green Bay. A deal still does not appear likely before roster cutdowns, but his agent has been in talks with the Packers, which keeps this one on the radar as the two sides continue to circle one another. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans Got A Rare Lambeau Look They Usually Never See
The Packers turned their final public joint practice of 2026 training camp into something closer to a summer showcase at Lambeau Field, where fans from several NFL fan bases came through to watch Green Bay and the Arizona Cardinals share the same field. It was the kind of access that usually never comes with a trip to Lambeau, and the day gave supporters a chance to see players from both sides up close, including rookies and a few familiar family ties that made the matchup feel a little smaller than the setting.
Matt and Mike LaFleur added another layer to the scene, with the Packers and Cardinals head coaches drawing plenty of attention from fans who were eager to soak in the rare crossover. Even with Arizona working through a limited window to prepare, the visit still included autograph opportunities and Green Bays bike tradition, giving the crowd a fuller look at training camp than it typically gets when another team is in town. [Read more 🡒]
Packers-Bears Just Got Another Wrinkle For Their Week 16 Rivalry
The Packers-Bears rivalry already had two dates circled on the calendar, with the teams set to meet in Week 5 and again in Week 16, and the second one just picked up a little more visual bite. The NFL released photos of Chicagos Rivalries uniform for that late-season matchup, a dark navy look with orange accents that gives the leagues oldest feud a fresh layer of theater.
For Green Bay, it is one more detail to file away as the season approaches, especially after an offseason that brought real changes to both rosters. The Bears addressed needs with veteran additions, while the Packers added defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, setting up a rivalry that could look different by December even before the uniforms come into play. [Read more 🡒]