Jason Garrett has been in first-year Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer‘s shoes after 13 years as a member of the staff, including the last nine as its head coach. He knows all-too-well the challenges that comes with working under hands-on owner and general manager Jerry Jones. But even Garrett, now entering his fourth NFL […]
Jason Garrett has been in first-year Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer‘s shoes after 13 years as a member of the staff, including the last nine as its head coach. He knows all-too-well the challenges that comes with working under hands-on owner and general manager Jerry Jones.
But even Garrett, now entering his fourth NFL season on TV as a NBC Sports analyst, admits he was “shocked” by Dallas’ decision to trade two-time All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, exactly one week before the Cowboys kickoff the 2025 season on NBC’s Thursday Night Football against the reigning Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles.
“Oh, I was shocked! I was shocked. You know, the most important player on a football team is the quarterback. The second-most important player on a football team is a guy who can negatively affect the quarterback. And those guys are hard to come by,” Garrett told NBC Sports colleague Mike Florio. “And ever since that guy (Parsons) has come into the league, he has been a dominant player. You know, four years, 52 sacks, he and Reggie White being used in the same sentences.
“If you want to make the argument that hey, we’re in a rebuilding phase to give up this 26-year-old whose arguably the best defensive player in the league, I don’t agree with it. But OK, I’ve got it,” Garrett continued. “That’s where you think your program is. If for some reason you made this decision because it go emotional in the negotiation, and we’re mad at each other on both sides, boy that’s a shame.”
Garrett’s criticism to what has been speculated as the true reason behind Thursday’s seismic trade — namely Jones’ hurt feelings over his perception Parsons reneged on an alleged “handshake agreement” back in March, which Parsons says never happened — follows a string of public rebukes of Jones’ handling of the months-long and recently contentious contract dispute with Parsons and his agent.
It also highlights how unpopular the trade is among even the most diehard of Cowboys fans.
Of course, Dallas didn’t come away empty-handed, acquiring 29-year-old three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Kenny Clark and the Packers’ first-round picks in the 2026 and 2027 NFL Drafts, giving the Cowboys two No. 1 picks in each of the next two drafts.
Still, the move left fans and NFL pundits like Garrett scratching their heads. Even seven-time collegiate national champion head coach Nick Saban, who once coached the Miami Dolphins, was at a loss.
Nick Saban reacts to Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones trading Micah Parsons: ‘It’d just be hard for me’
The Cowboys’ decision to trade away arguably the NFL’s best defensive player has drawn opinions all across the football world, from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and Cam Newton to College GameDay analyst and Amazon NFL broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit. On Friday, former Alabama coach Nick Saban joined The Pat McAfee Show and weighed in on the move.
“I do not know Jerry Jones very well, but I tell you what. When you’ve got a significant, dominant player (especially pass rusher), those guys are so hard to find,” Saban said. “I mean, boy it’d just be hard for me as a coach to let a guy like that go but is what it is.”
In particular, Saban questioned giving up on such a young and talented pass rusher just entering the prime of his NFL career.
“There’s certain guys that affect a game,” Saban continued. “Wide receivers can affect a game. Quarterback can affect a game. A great runner can affect a game. But pass rushers, in this day and age of football when over 60% of plays in the NFL are passes and that guy can impact the game not just in sacks but how many times can you affect the quarterback? How much is he worried about you as a rusher? That’s the one place on defense where a guy can really make an impact.”
— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to that report.
Category: Football
