Micah Parsons trade included ‘poison pill’ to keep him from Eagles

Micah Parsons will face off against the Eagles on Monday night, which will be as close he can get to an NFC East team for quite a while.

While trading away Parsons to the Packers, the Cowboys inserted a clause in the deal that essentially ensured Parsons would not wind up with those Eagles any time soon after Philadelphia had been active in trying to land the star pass rusher.

The clause — previously unreported and unearthed by ESPN, which referred to it as a “poison pill” condition — states that if the Packers trade Parsons to a team in the NFC East either this year or next year, Green Bay then must hand Dallas its 2028 first-round pick. Thus, Parsons is essentially off-limits to teams in the Cowboys’ division until at least 2027, a move that ensured Parsons would not soon join a Cowboys nemesis in Philadelphia, nearby where he grew up and close to where he rose to college stardom at Penn State.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles had made a push to coax Parsons away from the Cowboys, but ESPN reported the Cowboys had no interest in trading one of the best players in the game within their own division.

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Instead, in August, the Cowboys sent Parsons to Green Bay for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who also became subject to the poison-pill constraints: If the Cowboys trade Clark to a team in the NFC North, they would have to send their 2028 first-round pick to the Packers.

Such conditions in trades are not new, with ESPN citing the 2008 swap that sent Brett Favre from Green Bay to the Jets. The Packers did not want Favre to end up with the Vikings, so the Jets would have had to hand over three first-round picks to the Packers if they traded Favre to an NFC North team.

As it has worked out, the Packers don’t have much incentive to move a superstar they locked up for four years and $188 million. Parsons has 6.5 sacks through eight games for a team that is in first place in the NFC North.