Despite a disappointing end to the season for the Green Bay Packers, Micah Parsons' elite performance as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year highlights his game-changing impact.
It's easy to feel down because of the way the Green Bay Packers' 2025 season ended.
Finishing things off on a five-game losing skid, which included a playoff collapse against the Chicago Bears, is bound to leave a bad taste in the mouth of even the most optimistic of fans.
That's not how you want to do it, and the final images of this season over the last few weeks were one of the major reasons the hot seat immediately turned on for head coach Matt LaFleur before it cooled off again in the form of an extension from team president Ed Policy.
That's how bad it was. So bad that LaFleur could have been fired, and a majority of the fanbase would have been behind it.
The terrible ending to this campaign overshadows one of the most exciting things the Packers have done in recent memory, though, and that was trading for superstar pass-rusher Micah Parsons.
Parsons, despite missing multiple games with a torn ACL, was named an AP Defensive Player of the Year finalist on Thursday:
In these dark and uncertain times for the Pack, this is a great reminder of the shining light that was Parsons in 2025.
The Packers traded a king's ransom to the Dallas Cowboys for the opportunity to trade for and then give Parsons a ton of money with a new contract, and it was all worth it in year one.
Despite missing the last three games of the season and Green Bay's playoff game, Parsons was still amongst the very best of the best in the NFL statistically.
He finished this season with 41 tackles (19 solo), 12.5 sacks, 28 quarterback hits, 83 pressures, 6.5 stuffs, two forced fumbles and one pass defended.
For his efforts, Parsons was named a first-team All-Pro and he became the first defensive player since Aaron Donald to be named to the Pro Bowl in each of his first five seasons in the league. He's the only player in the NFL since 1982 to register 12-plus sacks in each of his five NFL seasons.
Parsons is elite, and as long as the Packers have him on their defense, they're going to have a chance to cause some havoc.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited for his return in 2026.
The other finalists for Defensive Player of the Year are Will Anderson Jr. (DE, Houston Texans), Nick Bonitto (LB, Denver Broncos), Myles Garrett (DE, Cleveland Browns) and Aidan Hutchinson (DE, Detroit Lions).