As the Dallas Cowboys continue their own journey to put together a competent defense, the trade of a former star was brought up once again recently. Indeed, the team can’t quite escape the shadow of their trade of Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. 

We all know the terms of that trade by now. The Packers get Parsons, the Cowboys get Green Bays first round picks in both 2026 and 2027, as well as defensive lineman Kenny Clark. 

Since that trade, the team has traded a 2027 first round pick to the New York Jets as part of the Quinnen Williams trade. That 2027 pick will be the higher of the two first rounders that Dallas owns that season, be it their own or Green Bay’s. 

Because of that, both first round picks from that year are considered frozen, and cannot be traded until after the 2026 season. As it turns out, those aren’t the only frozen picks for Dallas, though. 

According to Adam Schefter, there was a “poison pill provision” in the Parsons deal that prevents the Packers from trading Parsons to any other NFC East team before 2028, lest the team owe its first rounder that year to Dallas and freezing that pick for Green Bay until then. That makes sense after the Philadelphia Eagles expressed interest in adding Parsons before he was moved to Green Bay, although things would have to have gone terribly wrong if the two sides parted ways by 2028. 

Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) on X ESPN Sources: Micah Parsons’ trade to the Packers included a poison pill that the Cowboys inserted to block a deal in the near future to the Eagles.

As it pertains to the Cowboys, a similar provision pertains to Kenny Clark and any attempt to trade him to one of the three other NFC North teams and therefore freezing their own 2028 pick as well. With that said, it does not pertain to a situation in which, for example, Dallas were to release Clark (as is widely expected after this season) and he proceeded to sign with one of those NFC North teams. 

If the Cowboys were to release Clark, that 2028 first round would “thaw” and be available to be moved. While the team and player both likely expected Clark to be better this year, they won’t be stuck with him in an attempt to protect their pick. 

All and all, this wasn’t a bad hedging of bets by Jerry Jones and, while it may come across as petty to sum, it seems like perfectly good, if not unconventional, business by the erstwhile owner/GM. We’ll see if any more high round picks get moved in the meantime.