Lacie's Line-Up: NFL News
Lacie's Line-Up: NFL News
The Micah Parsons Trade: Heartbeat or Cancer?
The bombshell trade sending Micah Parsons to Green Bay rocked Cowboys Nation, but could this actually be the turning point for a franchise stuck in a 30-year championship drought?
When Jerry Jones reportedly offered Parsons the richest non-quarterback contract in the NFL and he still refused, the writing was on the wall. The signs had been accumulating throughout preseason – Parsons lounging on training tables, refusing to wear his team jersey, and appearing completely disengaged from team activities. What initially looked like classic Jerry Jones drama may have actually been calculated strategy.
The return package – two first-round picks and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark – positions Dallas with potentially four first-rounders over the next two years and significant salary cap flexibility. Most revealing has been the post-trade revelation about Parsons' L4-L5 back sprain, an injury requiring game-day injections that might even keep him sidelined for Green Bay's opener. For a franchise that has historically overpaid stars at the expense of overall team construction, this marks a philosophical shift toward building a complete roster.
The Packers have undeniably become more dangerous, but they've mortgaged their future on this season. If they don't hoist the Lombardi Trophy this year, they'll face a painful rebuild with limited resources. Meanwhile, Dallas can now afford to extend other key contributors and pursue impact free agents. The Week 4 matchup between these teams promises to be one of the season's most emotionally charged confrontations.
Could this be Dallas' version of the Herschel Walker trade that built their 90s dynasty? Only time will tell, but for the first time in years, there's a sense that the organization might finally be playing chess instead of checkers. Subscribe now to follow this developing story throughout the season as we analyze whether short-term pain might finally lead to long-term championship gain.
How fitting for my first episode of the new season to be filled with drama. Now, are we past the drama? I don't know, but your girl's got to talk about it. And it all starts Micah Parsons, the drama that has been leaning over us. Was he our heartbeat or was he a cancer? You're about to find out what I think about this. On lacy's lineup let's get talking. Welcome back to Lacey's lineup. We're back for a new season and I have missed you guys. I've missed talking, even though I'm not ready to talk about this.
Speaker 1:Cowboys. I was hoping last year was the worst season that I would have to talk about, but sure enough, here we are again with a lot of question marks, a lot of craziness but, surprisingly, might have some hope. I don't know. We'll see what happens here. When I tell you I had an episode, well, first of all I was gearing up for week one, obviously, cowboys versus the Eagles, and that was going to be kind of how I kicked off my season of Lacey's lineup and I was excited to talk to you guys gearing up. We're about to see them hang the banner. Things are happening, but Cowboys are going to the Super Bowl. You know all the stuff that I like to dream up as week one, but instead we were filled with Micah Parsons drama. So I had to pivot a little bit and I know that I had to discuss this because it has been on everyone's mind and there's still some question marks. Fans, I get it, we're not happy, but I think there is a silver lining to this and I'm going to explain to you guys on that. But let's go Like not only that did I pivot from talking about Cowboys and Eagles and stuff. I had my Parsons episode ready to go guys and everything that I said was there's no way we don't pay this guy. I thought it was going to be a Dak Prescott type contract where we're signing them hours before kickoff on Thursday. I truly did not see this coming at all at all. But here we are and now that I've had some time to digest it, I would love to talk through it with you guys and then kind of see how you guys feel about it and see if you agree or disagree with me.
Speaker 1:So Parsons is gone, right, parsons is gone. He is now a Packers and I'm going to talk a little bit on why. I didn't think we should have traded to the Packers. But here we are like we, we didn't pay him. And you started looking at it like there was. This was typical Jerry right, like he was doing what Jerry does and keeping the suspense, keeping Cowboys in the headlines. There's no way he doesn't pay his star performer. We've done it with CD, we did it with Dak. Like Jerry Jones pays his guys. But it's what's put us in this 30 year drought is because we pay all our money to one person and we don't have any money left to build an entire team around them. So that's why I feel like there is a little bit of a silver lining in this.
Speaker 1:But when you guys saw, when it said that he offered him the highest paid Jerry Jones offering Micah, that is and it was the highest paid, non-quarterback. So he was getting what he wanted there and it was, I think, 40.5 million and the guarantees but he declined. He goes. It's more than money for me. I'm going to call a little bit of on that. You sit there and you say it's, you just want to be out there with your guys and you don't have to be the highest paid. To me. This was about the money. I think there was disrespect. I think Jerry Jones thought he had bigger canoes right and he didn't care. And he has negotiated tons and millions of dollars of contracts with his players and it's worked out for him in the past, but this time I mean just the actions.
Speaker 1:In the past week I was actually at the last preseason game where you know, micah was laying down on the training table, he's eating nachos. Coming in, the guy was checked out. He was checked out and I think it was going to be miserable whether we kept him or not. He would have faked an injury, he would have not played, he would have kept continuing to cause drama and reflect from being focused for each game. I just think once he requested his so-called trade, which he had no control over. I mean, technically, we have him for three years if we had wanted to right Finish out his contract year and then two franchise tags, but he was gone, guys. I mean he didn't even wear his jersey, which is required at all the preseason games. He was just in a hoodie sweatshirt, required at all the preseason games. He was just in a hoodie sweatshirt.
Speaker 1:I like the guy, I do, but what has he done for us in the four years? Now? I think he gets a lot of respect from the offense. I think quarterbacks are scared of him and they do double team him, but the guys recorded one sack in a playoff run. So this is why I think there's a little bit of silver lining with it.
Speaker 1:If I had to guess what went behind closed doors with him and Jerry, I think they discussed it, they were agreeing to it and then all of a sudden, his agent got involved. Now, the good thing about doing this today was I was able to watch his agent on the Stephen A show. Doing this today was I was able to watch his agent on the Stephen A show and they were talking about his contract. Yes, he was 40.5, which was the highest paid, but he said it was like contracted for the first three years to not be the highest paid and then he wanted four years, but Jerry offered five, which I think that makes him lose out on his money during that time. Blame me, I'm not great on the contractual side. I know how they always reconstruct, you know, contracts to help free up money, which Micah claims he's a team player. So I think that's kind of crazy and you're giving this guy, this David guy, way too much limelight. I'm sorry, I think he almost messed it up for Micah.
Speaker 1:But then here comes the Packers. So Packers are in play and you started hearing this noise. Packers have kind of been in play for a long time, if even going back to the podcast with Micah and Love. Obviously they didn't think that would ever. They made the deal, guys. They made the deal.
Speaker 1:My heart dropped. It felt like Mavs 2.0. We're trading away our star player, our franchise player, but after some time of digesting it guys hear me out I don't mind this. I don't mind it. I think things are coming out, true or not? Just his talk in the locker room, the way he wasn't really a leader for the defense. He kind of played an I type of, instead of a team type of, mentality and I see that in him. I mean he was more worried about his. You started seeing him complain a lot. Don't get me wrong. We are going to miss this guy a lot, a lot, especially the way that we did it. I don't like that. We were. We waited this long.
Speaker 1:If we could have done it in March, I think we could have got a lot more for Micah. I think we could have had play going into the draft. I think we could have had hope for this year. Now it looks like everything's kind of piled for us to be set for the following years, unless Jerry figures a way to screw that up again, which could happen. But look, guys, do you guys remember? I know the Micah or not the Micah, but the Cowboys Americas team came, came out on Netflix and it kind of took us down the glory years and seeing everybody and you know the Troy Aikmans and all that, and you had to go back because I was young when all that took place. That's why I'm dying to see this repeat again. But I got a refresher on the Herschel Walker and this feels like Herschel Walker. I mean, I'm hoping it feels like Herschel Walker. I hope this is the direction that we're going in. But everyone couldn't believe that. We traded, you know, to get all these first round picks and do this complete team who went on to win the Super Bowl. Now do I know if that's going to happen? No, it is the Cowboys. We haven't won anything since before. Google was, you know, made. So who knows? But I do like this change of thought. Instead of overpaying our superstars now we can maybe go after some guys that can make us a complete team.
Speaker 1:We did get Kenny Clark. I knew of him. I tried not to look too deep in the Packers. I mean, the Packers for me are a team that's like an off-limits type team. That's why I was kind of mad that they went and gave Micah to the Packers. But Kenny Clark once you know he's a cowboy I need to do my research and I mean he's a two-time pro bowler. He knows how to stop the run. He is 29, so we are dealing with older and how injuries will play into effect with that. But he does help the defense. He's not Micah Parsons, but he has his own game and I feel like he's going to come in and disturb a lot of things if he can stop the run, which is something we haven't been able to do. Obviously we have to see how that plays out, but I do think it was good to get him in return to help with our defensive side.
Speaker 1:Defense wins championships. This is where we're lacking. We don't have a lot of defense. Now when Overshawn comes back and we start plugging in our defensive players, we can kind of see how it goes. But we get two first round picks, so potentially we have four first round picks over the next two years. You know we have freed up so much money to where we, if George Pickens goes off this year, we can pay him. If you know, we can bring in some other guys. We were able to finally sign Bland, which hopefully he wasn't just a one hit wonder and he can keep performing with us there. But I'm just happy that we are now kind of seeing into the future.
Speaker 1:Now, if you look at both sides of it, packers think they won the trade. Now, if they don't win it all this year, they did not win the trade because they went all in. They got Micah, but they are. They had to sign him to the biggest deal. So now they're in that debt. They had to pay up on the extension for Kenny Clark before giving them to us. They lost their first round picks. So if they don't win this year, they are going to be on the struggle bus for a long time. I mean, it is going to be a full rebuild for them. So they're, you know, going all in on this year Now. Hasn't we heard all in before Cowboy fans? So we'll see how that works out for them. We did make them more dangerous, but I still think that it's not going to pan out the way that the Packers are hoping for, and I think if they don't win it this year, they're going to be in a lot of trouble, which I like to see as a Cowboys fan. So there's that.
Speaker 1:But then you look at, was there more going on with Micah Parsons than just his attitude and his demands and his podcast? He has a back issue. You see it coming out now. He has an L4, l5 sprain to his back. They're talking about having to give him injections for every game, possibly not even being able to play in their season opener with the Packers, and now he could be to where he wasn't. So I think I'd rather sit on this side where we didn't just pay him tons of money, because that's normally how it happens. Right, they pay and then they get hurt, dak. But now they're going to have to worry about that because they went all in on this guy and now it's coming out that he has back issues, which we talked about. Back tightness is what the Cowboys were calling it, but it seems like it's a legitimate thing that could get worse as the season goes, especially with the type of player that Micah is, the way he plays, he's going to go full force. So I don't know too much I'm not on the doctor's side to know but a sprain, just in general I know could get worse and if he puts a lot on his back that could become an issue. So that's something we're definitely going to watch there and see kind of how that plays out.
Speaker 1:But if I'm looking at it, even though I'm I've swallowed it, I'm okay, I'm dealing with it, I'm optimistic, I'm with this trade, I'm happy the drama is out of Dallas until week four, right when we play them. But I wish we would have gone somewhere else than the Packers. Like, trade them to the AFC, where you don't have to see them. Trade them to a team that I know all factor because of who we were wanting in return. But trade them to like the Titans or the Colts. Like let Micah go three and 14 and see how he likes it. Then. That's just my pettiness on my side. But I'm like, why would we go with the Packers? To me, especially the way the Packers came in and destroyed us on our home that year of the playoffs when we really thought that we were going all the way, now we're going to trade our best player to them. I just think they were off limits. Nfc is off, east is off limits, packers are off limits and I think the 49ers are off limits. Everyone else let's talk.
Speaker 1:I still think we could have got more for him. I mean, micah Parsons was still somebody. I mean he comes with a hefty. It's almost like the Dallas Mavericks, right, like with Luca, we could have got more. So I'm like get everything. If you're going to make this trade, get everything you can out of it. But I mean we got more than I feel like we got for Luka, for the Mavericks, not to side note off of that. I just think of Dallas and trading away our stars and kind of that persona that we're giving to everybody. But get more for it. And I think you could have gotten more back in March.
Speaker 1:But here we are, it is what it is. You start looking at all the players and you know they're trying to comment, but it's just a distraction. Now, like the deal is done, let's move on. Will this pay off? I don't know. Will the game week four be dramatic? Probably so. Is Dak probably going to try to fake an injury not to play against Parsons? Probably so, because Parsons couldn't even stop in training camp right Two years ago when we thought Parsons took out Dak before the season started. So I think there's going to be a lot of that's going to be a very emotional game for sure, but I'm happy the distraction's gone. I think, looking at the big picture not that I like to give Jerry Jones a lot of credit because I question a lot of things he does, but I actually think this might've been one of his smarter moves.
Speaker 1:It was clear that Micah didn't want to be here anymore. It was clear that he had checked out. Why keep a player like that if he's just not going to give his all for this team? So I think we got what we needed to do. I think we can move on now. Now do we have a defense? Is our defense weakened with Micah Levin? Absolutely no ways around it. I mean Kenny Clark's going to come in and help, try to fill a hole, but we have many holes on the defense and I'm a true believer that defense wins championships.
Speaker 1:So it could be another bumpy ride, cowboy fans. This season could shape up like last season, could be a mediocre-type season, maybe up like last season could be a mediocre type season, maybe even a disappointing season. I mean I'm not putting my heights too high on the season. I'm excited to see them back out there, excited football's back, but to say that they're a contender at this point, absolutely not. But if we play our cards right with now, the weapons we have, with draft picks and money to go out and make a team that can compete next year, that's kind of where my, my optimism is at this point, like now it's. I'm looking at the two to three year plan and if we could just survive this year and then go from there. So we'll definitely talk more about this as we go on, but that's my thoughts.
Speaker 1:I think Parsons is a great player. I wish he could have wore the star forever, but that's where we're at and I think it's probably better to wipe our hands clean. We got out of it without paying the money and now he's a Packers problem. Obviously I don't wish injury on anybody, but if that was a big factor, maybe that was the final factor in doing what we did, because it was the uncertainty if he would even play plus. He missed six games last year, so I'm sure that was in the back of the Jones's mind. So I'm sure there's a lot more factors and I just report on what I see and the knowledge that takes me.
Speaker 1:You know as far as my knowledge can take me, so I don't know I I was sad, I cried, I had a lot of emotions with it. I just felt like we were just in this, on the spiraling circle of never pulling out, never being a contender. But I started looking at it and I started seeing what we can do. And now it just determines if he will do what he's supposed to do in order to make us that dynasty type team. So we will see.
Speaker 1:We'll kind of talk more as the season goes as who I think they'll draft with these picks. Jerry Jones didn't rule out that he wouldn't use a draft pick to get somebody. Now he's not known for that, so I think that was more for the media. In that standpoint At this point, who are you going to get? You know the season starts in two days, so I think it's better to keep it in our pocket and just try to do what we can this year and hopefully build that contender type team next year.
Speaker 1:But here we have it, two days away from season opener, we're playing the Eagles. We got to travel to Philly. We got to see them hang their Super Bowl banner. Who will that affect the most? What emotional? Will it be emotional for the Eagles? Will it be emotional for the Cowboys wanting to be the Eagles? I don't know how it's going to pan out. Emotional for the Cowboys wanting to be the Eagles? I don't know how it's going to pan out. I think it's funny. You know, somehow I think the Cowboys might pull this win off. I know it sounds crazy, but I just think, based on playing them in the first game and everything involved in it, cowboys usually win these type of games.
Speaker 1:I hope I'm right in that standpoint. If I'm not, of games, I hope I'm right in that standpoint. If I'm not, it is what it is. But I know one thing I'm nervous as heck. I get nervous just thinking about them being on the TV. I get nervous to see kind of what team we have, how many holes we have. Jadon Blue, I don't think, is going to be able to play which he felt like a spark in the preseason game. So the run game is still a question mark for me. Dak we'll see if he stays healthy this year. I think Pickens having him and CD on the sides, we'll see what that brings. Our offensive line and defensive line obviously are still question marks, even though we've been drafting trying to make that a solid. We don't have Zach Martin this year, so there's a lot of question marks. As Cowboy fans we don't know what to expect, but we know we're excited. Right now we're still in it, right Like that's all we can think about in the beginning of the season. We're not out of it yet, so we're going in with just praying for miracles and that's kind of where we are at. Cowboy fans, that's where I'm at for sure. So we'll see what Thursday brings.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to report on it with you guys and let you know my thoughts on it. Hear y'all's thoughts. I'm just happy to be back talking with you guys. I'm glad we can get Parsons out of the way. College football was unbelievable. I can't wait to discuss that with you. So many episodes, so much fun coming our way. I just can't wait to have this season with you guys, talk my favorite sport and just be along for the ride. So appreciate you guys. Happy to be back. Enjoy football season. Fall is here, football is back and your girl can't wait to spend it with you guys this season. Until we see you next time. Your girl Lacey is signing off you.