Are fans ready to accept the Micah trade devasted our defense?

[Diehardblues]

Yeah but if we are bad anyway then what’s the point? We saw the Cowboys themselves take Micah out the game. And truthfully he hasn’t been as impactful as the season goes on. I wonder if he’s hurt or are the back issues real.

Then why did we resign Prescott and Lamb. We are certainly wasting their careers and money spent.

 

[Diehardblues]

Shouldn’t be. Truthfully Micah masked a lot of issues.

Yep. Like all great players do. They call it elevating those around you.

 

[Jarntt]

It’s crazy that we have a historically bad pass defense and yet somehow right now our run defense is even worse than last year. How is that possible?

 

[gtb1943]

If the team was devastated then they are weak losers

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Then why did we resign Prescott and Lamb. We are certainly wasting their careers and money spent.

Well the offense is actually good. The defense has so many issues and Micah didn’t mask them. Micah was out there when guys ran on us for 200 yards. People pretend now but he was out there during the Packers debacle.

I will say we got wore getting rid of him. I felt getting rid of him meant we’d keep Bland and Pickens and I was totally against that.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

It’s crazy that we have a historically bad pass defense and yet somehow right now our run defense is even worse than last year. How is that possible?

The run defense was looking fine or better I don’t know what happened these last two weeks.

 

[montgod]

Then why did we resign Prescott and Lamb. We are certainly wasting their careers and money spent.

This is where a competent GM would have made a decision immediately after the last playoff lost. Rebuild or try again. Jerry took his sweet time, let all the good FAs get signed, puted for months, and at the last minute signed Dak and CD. Made absolutely no sense. If you were going to go that route, than you do it (sign Dak/CD) early, have cap space for FAs, then go into the new season.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Yep. Like all great players do. They call it elevating those around you.

To an extent. I keep being reminded of the playoff games and the Packers game. It just keeps rearing its ugly head.

 

[visionary]

I understand if we were actually in an official rebuild mode and Micah wasn’t in our plans as we planned on trading him to highest bidder during Free Agency that could have actually been a strategic plan. But that’s not what happened. We had every intention on resigning. We just couldn’t get a deal done . But I’m not here to argue out as that’s been exhausted over last couple months.

This thread is about what the impacts of losing Micah has meant to this defense . The fact we lost him a week before the season had to be devasting to a DC and schemes with other losses on defense in FA and injuries.

Where was our pass rush going to come from. We also lost Lawrence as a Cap Casualty. Our top two edge rushers gone .

And with our 2 CB’s not a 100% recovering from injuries we were leaving our secondary very vulnerable without a pass rush.

WTH were we thinking. We had to know it could be a disaster .

Im sure stupid fans who don’t understand football are

 

[Relayer]

Every once in a while the Cowboys do something right. In this case I think we did it for the wrong reasons but ultimately all that matters is that we probably got this one right.

Yes, it was the right move to screw things up so much that one of the best players in the league couldn't make a difference.

 

[dupree89]

Then why did we resign Prescott and Lamb. We are certainly wasting their careers and money spent.

THAT was the mistake. Don't sign Dak, trade cee dee and trade Micah. That was the correct move IMO.

 

[Relayer]

No.
Dallas was 31st LAST year in points per game allowed.
They were 28th in rushing yards allowed.

Trading Micah was admitting your defense sucked and was a couple years away.

The takes that Micah made this defense even average is dreamland stuff.

They didn't trade Micah because they wanted to. They trade him because he pissed Jerry off. There was no plan to make the team better by doing it.

 

[big dog cowboy]

But some pass rush causing havoc is better than none . It can mask other weaknesses and double and triple teaming can open it up for other players.

Because it worked so well for the Cowboys in the playoffs, right.

Parsons had literally ZERO impact in those games.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

Sorry if I didn’t make that clear. Context is critical. I meant devasting to the team and ultimately the results.

It’s a complicated mental exercise in determining how the Micah trade effects our results over the next couple of seasons but I’ll take a shot:

It’s realistic to argue that trading Micah has already cost the team 1.5 wins this season. I think the Cowboys probably win the Packers and Panthers games if Micah is on the roster. There will likely be one or two more games this season where the same logic applies.

Now we need to analyze where those 2.5-3.5 wins gets us at the end of the season. Rather than going 6-10-1 this season without Micah, it’s likely with him we finish the season 9-8 or maybe 10-7. That would probably be a 10 spot difference in draft position. Instead of having a pick between 8-12, we’d have a pick somewhere between 17-21.

To simplify things, let’s assume the same applies to next season. We’ll finish with 2-3 fewer wins, since we don’t have Micah next season. Assuming these things gives us some concrete conclusions as to what we’ll gain from the trade:

1.) Higher draft position in both the ‘26 and ‘27 drafts - The team will have the ability to add higher impact rookies with top half draft picks over the next two years.

2.) Two first round picks from GB - Even if those picks end up late in the first round, it gives the team ammo to move up in the round to get even better players, or in the absence of a trade up, it gives us the ability to draft players that improve talent and depth.

3.) Cap space - Signing Micah to such a large contract would constrict our ability to sign players no matter the efficiency of the front office. Keeping a contract like that off the books allows the team to more evenly allocate resources, likely resulting in a more well balanced roster.

The conclusion is that while trading Micah will likely cost the team 6-7 wins over the next two seasons, the alternative is achieving nothing more than mediocrity. It was a bold move to trade him and certainly cost the team short term. But keeping an eye towards long term gains is something this team has needed to do for decades. It’s refreshing that the front office has accepted that a different approach may be necessary to put the franchise on a truer course to championship results.

 

[Relayer]

THAT was the mistake. Don't sign Dak, trade cee dee and trade Micah. That was the correct move IMO.

I wanted to keep Ceedee because it would have helped whoever the new QB was. But I wanted to do basically the same thing.

 

[ArtClink]

I understand if we were actually in an official rebuild mode and Micah wasn’t in our plans as we planned on trading him to highest bidder during Free Agency that could have actually been a strategic plan. But that’s not what happened. We had every intention on resigning. We just couldn’t get a deal done . But I’m not here to argue out as that’s been exhausted over last couple months.

This thread is about what the impacts of losing Micah has meant to this defense . The fact we lost him a week before the season had to be devasting to a DC and schemes with other losses on defense in FA and injuries.

Where was our pass rush going to come from. We also lost Lawrence as a Cap Casualty. Our top two edge rushers gone .

And with our 2 CB’s not a 100% recovering from injuries we were leaving our secondary very vulnerable without a pass rush.

WTH were we thinking. We had to know it could be a disaster .

It's just business as usual with the Jones boys. Not surprised anymore by Jerry & Fatso.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The conclusion is that while trading Micah will likely cost the team 6-7 wins over the next two seasons, the alternative is achieving nothing more than mediocrity.

And I very seriously doubt he costs them anywhere near that many wins. Only a good to great QB does that.

Here's one piece of evidence from a Vikings site:

In his four years in the NFL, Micah Parsons has produced 2.70 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), according to the PFF, which is second only to Myles Garrett among defensive players in that time.

That translates to just over half a win per season, which equates to roughly one extra point per game. Very impressive, but not nearly as scary as a QB like Aaron Rodgers, who throughout the 2010s averaged a WAR of 3 per season.

Of course, wins above replacement is not a perfect statistic, and it’s not as easy to quantify as it is in an individualistic sport like baseball. Still, there’s no denying that defense is inherently unstable from year to year, and even great EDGEs don’t ensure great team defense.

https://purpleptsd.com/2025/vikings/vikings-analysis/about-micah-parsons/

 

[Relayer]

We had him last year. #32 on defense. Last I checked, there's only 32 teams.

Maybe the defense not being healthy had more to do with the ranking than anything else?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

Lombardi’s are a pipe dream this era under Jethro.

Point being we didn't sniff even a NFC champ playoff game WITH Parsons, let alone a super bowl.

We'll be lucky to make the playoffs...like a lot of years with...and without...him.

Yes...he gave us some stats and talking points. But in the end...as insignificant as any other player...to the ultimate goal.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

Saying keeping Micah would fix the defense is like saying keeping Herschel would have fixed the offense.

You saw what it took to fix the 1989 offense - a slew of good draft picks and signing good free agents. All from the trade.

No way Dallas could get that by keeping Micah.