The Dallas Cowboys have spent much of this offseason collecting disappointing former first-round picks, but may be on the cusp of trading one of the most talented players on the roster ahead of the NFL Draft.Football gear

Even after the Cleveland Browns made Myles Garrett the highest-paid pass rusher in the history of the sport, Micah Parsons’ contract talks don’t seem to have much momentum at the moment with the Dallas Cowboys, a year after Jerry Jones and Co. signed playmaking wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott to mega-deals of their own.

With the NFL Draft nearing, might the Cowboys be about to dangle Parsons on the trade market?

Dec 15, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons (11) walks off the field after the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Pro Football Focus’ Bradley Locker put together a list of each team’s most valuable trade asset ahead of the draft, including Parsons on the list for the Cowboys.

“There’s no name on this list bigger than Parsons,” Locker writes for PFF. “Whose contract situation has yet to be resolved despite players from the subsequent draft class already being extended. Over the past three seasons, Parsons trails only Myles Garrett in PFF overall grade (93.7) and PFF pass-rushing grade (94.3).

“The Parsons trade discourse has cooled for now, but Dallas can’t delay this forever. We saw CeeDee Lambhold out of camp and nearly force a trade to pressure an extension from Jerry Jones. If Dallas knows it can’t pay what Parsons desires as early as the draft, then all bets are off.”

Trading Parsons would be a sea-changing move for the Cowboys, that in a lot of ways would raise questions about why Dallas committed to Prescott and Lamb last offseason, but Jones could easily follow a similar playbook to those two deals and wait until summer to sign Parsons to an extension.

However, if Parsons does become available, there’s little doubt that the Cowboys could fetch a bounty of draft capital in return for one of the most disruptive and game-altering talents at a premium position who could be the caliber of player who puts a team over the top.