Speculation has run rampant in the NFL world ever since current Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons requested a trade (demanded might be a more accurate word) on social media. Despite initially wanting to be a Cowboy for life, Parsons said that recent developments in contract negotiations have changed that.
For his part, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones responded to the trade request by telling fans not to lose any sleep over it. In normal circumstances, he would likely be right. But something about Parsons’ social media post felt more personal than other requests. Reading his statement, it felt genuine as opposed to a carefully curated public statement that may dabble in exaggeration.
Parsons will likely still be a Cowboy when all is said and done, but the possibility of a trade still lingers, if a team is willing to pay a steep price, and one team that’s been connected to a potential trade more than others would result in a nightmare scenario for the New York Jets: division rival and five-team defending AFC East champions, the Buffalo Bills.
Eric Edholm, a lead writer for NFL.com, recently compiled a list of landing spots for Micah Parsons after the star’s trade request, and the Bills landed right at the top. Here’s what Edholm had to say about this potential scenario: “The Bills need to have tunnel vision on winning a Super Bowl now, having come achingly close multiple times over the past several years. Joey Bosa was a big-name addition this offseason, and Greg Rousseau is a top-tier rusher, but adding Parsons… could be the difference between a title and another missed opportunity for one. Finding a way to get in on the Parsons bonanza won’t be easy, but if you’re GM Brandon Beane, don’t you have to at least try?”
If the Bills pulled that trade off, you could go ahead and pencil them in for the next several AFC East championships. The Jets have beat the Bills just twice since Josh Allen’s breakout year in 2020, one being a fluky Week 1 game in 2023. Adding three-time All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons to that defense would just be too much for New York, or Miami and New England for that matter, to overcome.
Luckily for Jets fans, Parsons is probably not going anywhere. But if this rift with Dallas is real and if Buffalo GM Brandon Beane gets desperate enough to deliver a Super Bowl title, it’s very much a realistic scenario. In a year when the Jets are expected to make meaningful progress towards snapping their 14-year playoff drought, forcing quarterback Justin Fields to confront Parsons twice would be a serious blow.
