Arguably the biggest move of the entire NFL offseason occurred on Thursday afternoon, when the Dallas Cowboys agreed to trade star pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers just one week before the regular season kicks off.
Dallas agreed to send arguably its best player up north after the two sides were unable to agree on a long-term extension that would keep the former Penn State star with the Cowboys for the foreseeable future. In exchange, Dallas received 2 first-round draft picks and a veteran defensive lineman from the Packers.
Most people naturally decried the move as an awful decision, but one of the few who actually liked the trade happened to be ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who shared his thoughts on the trade during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Friday.
“I look at this differently,” Herbstreit said. “You got a new coach who’s trying to build a new culture, and your alpha, your best player, is out. He’s sitting out in a negotiation that’s not working out… I think at this point it’s probably just best to give him his opportunity to go to another franchise, and then Dallas can almost start over as far as inside the building, and the building the culture.”
Herbstreit’s analysis of the trade certainly differs significantly from the consensus view that has been circulating among both analysts and fans, but he does raise some interesting points.
At the end of the day, if a player is negatively affecting the culture of your organization, then it’s best to move on from them, even if they are a generational talent.
Whether the move ultimately works out in the Cowboys’ favor, however, is something only time will tell.
Dallas hosts Green Bay on Sept. 28 in what will be Parsons’ first trip back to Dallas since the trade. According to a lookahead line from DraftKings, the Packers are a 2.5-point favorite in that game. Parsons (+600) is also the preseason betting favorite to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.
