Jerry Jones: Michah Parsons trade allowed Cowboys to take 'risks' to improve defense
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports that Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams agreed to a three-year $105.9 million contract extension.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continues to liken the Micah Parsons trade to the legendary Hershel Walker swap that spurred the club's dynastic run in the 1990s.
Jones noted on Thursday that the Parsons trade was the impetus behind the Cowboys' defensive rebuild heading into 2026.
"You could say those picks got us key players, but the main thing that the Herschel Walker trade did, it caused me to be more aggressive and caused us to, if you will, take more risk because we had more picks," Jones said Thursday, via Todd Archer of ESPN. "It's like going to Las Vegas with some extra money in your pocket or going out there with the baby's new pair of shoes and formula money in your pocket. You can't be as good a crapshooter as you are when you've got the baby's new pair of shoes throwing out there with it.
"So, in a way," he added, "this actually created a mental part to us and to my role in it with me, to step out and make the moves and take, if you will, risks that are involved to be where we are today with a complete makeover of the defense."
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Roughly a year ago, the Cowboys traded Parsons to the Green Bay Packers for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. At last year’s trade deadline, Dallas then flipped the 2027 first-rounder and their own 2026 second-round pick for defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets. With the 2026 first-rounder, the Cowboys added pass rusher Malachi Lawrence with the No. 23 pick in April's draft.
The trade also freed up cap space to sign Williams to an extension, trade for edge Rashan Gary and add safety Jalen Thompson.
Jones lauded Parson's talent, noting that if he were a lesser player, the Cowboys wouldn’t have landed such a windfall.
"Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to make that kind of trade. That's why it worked," Jones said about Parsons' skill. "But the fact that we revamped our defense, that was an instigator toward that attitude: 'Let's come in here and change this up, let's get rush from the interior, let's be stronger on the run in the interior with an emphasis on those guys in the middle.' That's not an accident. That's what you see out there from the inside."
The early returns on the Cowboys' defense under new coordinator Christian Parker have received nearly universal praise. However, we still haven’t played a game in the 2026 regular season yet. History will decide if the Parsons trade comes even close to what the Walker move provided Jones’ franchise.
"Even though Micah's an outstanding talent [that] anybody would like to have, the bottom line is that I like what the result of the trade has ended up as I stand here today," Jones said.