GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Micah Parsons says he just went through the hardest four months of his life as he feared his contract stalemate with the Dallas Cowboys would stretch into the start of the season.
Now that the matter finally has been settled with a trade to the Green Bay Packers, the superstar pass rusher wants to create a legacy befitting one of the NFL’s storied franchises.
One day after the Packers made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history, Parsons arrived at Green Bay on Friday, saw the exhibits saluting the franchise’s Hall of Famers and imagined his own future.
“I looked on that wall and I saw Brett Favre, I saw Reggie (White), I saw all those legends, and I was like ‘I’ve got to be there,’ “ Parsons said.
The Packers sent two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas. They’re giving Parsons a four-year, $188 million contract with $136 million guaranteed.
Parsons gives Green Bay arguably its best pass rusher since White. Parsons invited comparisons by including clips of White in a video he posted on X after the trade was announced.
“I just looked at him like somebody who won,” said Parsons, who marveled at the “outrageous” statistics White compiled. “I think I can do that, too. I think I can do anything I put my mind to.”
Parsons will wear a new number.
At Dallas, Parsons had No. 11, which wide receiver Jayden Reed wears for Green Bay. Parsons said he plans to wear No. 1, becoming the first Packer to do so since Curly Lambeau from 1925-26.
Although Green Bay has reached the playoffs with the NFL’s youngest roster each of the last two years, the Packers lacked star power and a consistent pass rush. Parsons provides both.
The 26-year-old has 52 1/2 career sacks, including at least 12 in each of his four seasons.
“I just know from having to game plan against him, that is something that keeps you up at night when you’re going against a player of his caliber,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
Parsons was available only because negotiations with the Cowboys had broken down.
“I would say these last four months have probably been the hardest four months of my life,” Parsons said.
Joining the Packers is a full-circle moment for Parsons, who played running back for a team called the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Packers as a kid. Packers offensive tackle Rasheed Walker, a former Penn State teammate, offered positive reports about playing for this franchise.
The timing of this move is similar to the Oakland Raiders’ trade of edge rusher Khalil Mack to Chicago just before the 2018 season. The Packers also had sought Mack at the time, and general manager Brian Gutekunst believed afterward they might have entered that pursuit a little too late.
“I don’t think it would’ve changed the outcome of that back then, but I felt like if you’re going to be on something like this, you’re going to have to be in early,” Gutekunst said.
Gutekunst made sure the Packers were in it from the start this time, though he was skeptical Parsons would truly become available.
“The chances of these things happenings are pretty slim,” Gutekunst said. “I think that was my mindset the whole time, was keep the conversations going because of the uniqueness of the player.”
Gutekunst said a framework for this deal was in place well before Wednesday. Even then, he didn’t have his hopes up.
“There’s a ton of times when you go through these conversations and you have frameworks and structures of how you’re going to do this and it just doesn’t come to fruition,” he said.
This time, the deal got done.
Parsons’ acquisition and his big contract bring the Packers some potential short-term and long-term consequences.
Losing Clark and allowing defensive tackle T.J. Slaton to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency leaves Green Bay short on depth at that position. The money devoted to Parsons and quarterback Jordan Love, who signed a four-year, $220 million extension last year, could eventually cause salary cap complications.
“There’s no doubt when you acquire a player like this, who’s going to take up that much of the cap, that you’re going to have to make some choices,” Gutekunst said. “You always do.”
The price the Packers paid for Parsons makes him that much more intent on proving his worth.
“I’d be a fool to not think there isn’t expectations or there isn’t pressure in the position that I’m stepping into,” Parsons said. “But then again, that’s a blessing in itself. That means that they believed in me that much.”
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
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