Former Penn State Star, NFC East Rival Admits Cowboys Won Micah Parsons Trade

The Cowboys took a lot of heat for trading away Micah Parsons, but even a former rival had to admit they won the trade in the end.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons jogs off the field following the game against the Chicago Bears. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

LaVar Arrington has no reason to give credit to the Dallas Cowboys, and even less to say anything negative against Micah Parsons.

Arrington played seven years in the NFL, all in the NFC East. The first six years, he played for Washington before spending his final season with the New York Giants. Before his time in the league, he was a star for Penn State, which is the same school where Parsons hailed from.

Despite his ties to Parsons and dislike for the Dallas franchise, Arrington was willing to admit the Cowboys are the winners of the 2025 trade with the Green Bay Packers. When asked on Thursday night for his thoughts, he made it clear that he didn't like saying it, but gave the nod to Jerry Jones.

“If you’re saying addition by subtraction, you probably gotta say,” Arrington said while starting to mouth the word “Cowboys,” according to Edward Lewis of the New York Post. “I’m not going to say it!”

Full details of Micah Parsons trade

Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons celebrates after sacking Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

When looking at draft compensation alone, it would be tough to determine a "winner." But Dallas didn't just hold onto the two first-round picks they landed. Instead, they used one of those picks in a package to bring in Quinnen Williams. They also traded back with the remaining first-round pick and added two fourth-round selections.

There were a lot of moving parts, but here's a roundup of what they traded away and what the Cowboys received in return.

Cowboys Traded Away: Micah Parsons, Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round pick
Cowboys Received: Kenny Clark (DT, Green Bay Packers), Quinnen Williams (DT, New York Jets), Malachi Lawrence (EDGE, UCF), Devin Moore (CB, Florida), LT Overton (DL, Alabama)

In addition to the players added, the Cowboys had enough wiggle room in the salary cap to get ahead of the curve and extend All-Pro guard Tyler Smith and starting cornerback DaRon Bland. Jones focused heavily on the financial flexibility they were afforded after Green Bay ultimately paid Parsons $188 million over four years.

Dallas not only extended the players listed above, but came to terms on anextension with Javonte Williams ahead of free agency and Quinnen Williams during training camp.

Did Cowboys really "win" the Micah Parsons trade?

Dallas was in a tough spot with Parsons. Their defense was too far gone to expect one player to fix it. So even if they retained Parsons, 2025 would have been a tough year for them and fixing the defense with his contract would have been a tough ask.

Instead, they were able to spread the money around and enter the new year with a completely revamped defense and much more hope. For them, that's a huge win.

To be fair, however, the Packers felt they could be contenders with one more piece. We can't say they were wrong just yet since Parsons suffered a torn ACL. They could still look brilliant by getting him back to full health and going into the postseason with a stellar pass-rusher leading their defense. In the end, it could very well be a "win-win." That's enough to prove the Cowboys weren't fleeced, which was the general consensus when the deal was initially announced.

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