The Dallas Cowboys have made a significant roster change by trading star linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. Even Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said releasing Collins would free up movement to improve the team’s defense. The team looks forward to an exciting second season together. Parsons, the 2021 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a four-time Pro Bowl pick, is known for his 52.5 career sacks and explosive downhill play. He’ll make his return to AT&T Stadium as a Packer on September 28th.
To Jones, it all comes back to making a deal that’s best in the long term for the franchise. He stated, “In our judgment, this gives us a better chance to be a better team than we have been the last several years.” The Cowboys got killed on the ground in a weirdly disappointing year. They gave up 100+ rushing yards in 12 of their 17 games and ran up over 140 yards in eight of those contests.
The Cowboys’ recent NFL playoff performance is under heavy fire today. In their past three playoff defeats, they’ve surrendered a staggering 425 rushing yards on only 103 attempts, yielding six rushing scores. Jones pointed out that Parsons’ exceptional pass rush could be exploited by opposing teams, saying, “When you have the kind of extraordinary pass rush that Micah has, then the way to mitigate that pass rush is to run at him.”
More than being a realist in the face of these challenges, Jones painted an optimistic picture of the team’s future. “This was a move to get us successful in the playoffs,” he said. He went on to explain, “This was an offensive-minded move to get better defensively. Stop the run. This was part of a strategic play to, if we lose our wheels, not allow them to be campaigned upon. And it was a strategic play, an intentional play, a deliberate play to set this in motion.
The Cowboys are confident this is the defensive gameplan to set the course ahead. Getting to know new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has built quite the resume. During that time, defensive units he has led have finished in the top 10 in run defense eight times. The Cowboys are well-stocked along the edge with Dante Fowler Jr. having a career year in 2022.
None other than Stephen Jones, Executive VP of the Cowboys, towed his father’s line, making similar remarks about the new trade. He added, “Kenny Clark’s a huge part of this,” pointing to the development of Kenny Clark’s role in turning around their defense.
As the team prepares to face the challenges of the upcoming season without Parsons, they will need to adapt quickly. Until we see their plan for replacing that kind of dynamism, this trade will remain a mystery. Along with those challenges comes an opportunity for huge growth and improvement.
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