{"id":39210,"date":"2025-08-02T05:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T05:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/39210\/"},"modified":"2025-08-02T05:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T05:04:08","slug":"nfl-writer-suggests-afc-doormat-as-dark-horse-for-cowboys-micah-parsons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/39210\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL writer suggests AFC doormat as dark horse for Cowboys\u2019 Micah Parsons"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons <\/a>appear to be heading for a split.<\/p>\n

On Friday afternoon, the All-Pro edge rusher officially requested a trade after contract talks with the team broke down. With no extension in sight and little movement from owner Jerry Jones, the writing may be on the wall.<\/p>\n

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Now, the NFL world turns its attention to what comes next.<\/p>\n

Parsons is just 26 years old and entering his prime \u2014 making him one of the most sought-after defensive players in the league. Nearly every team would love to add a player of his caliber. But so far, Jones hasn\u2019t shown much urgency to keep him in Dallas, sticking to a firm financial stance despite Parsons\u2019 obvious value.<\/p>\n

NFL.com\u2019s lead draft writer Eric Edholm<\/a> recently explored some potential landing spots<\/a>, and one team that raised eyebrows: the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would make sense that any team trying to manifest a Parsons trade would have a lot of assets to dangle,\u201d Edholm wrote. \u201cEnter the Browns. Following the draft day trade involving Travis Hunter, the Browns own Jacksonville\u2019s 2026 first-rounder and their own first. They have enough ammunition to make a major offer if they so choose. It also doesn\u2019t hurt the Browns\u2019 chances that they\u2019re in the AFC and don\u2019t play against the Cowboys often.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Cowboys’ failure to lock in Parsons long-term<\/a> has only added fuel to the speculation.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, Cleveland is in a rare position. They have the draft capital to make a serious run at a generational talent \u2014 if they\u2019re willing to stomach the financial strain.<\/p>\n

Of course, money is the tricky part.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Browns\u2019 salary cap situation isn\u2019t ideal, still weighed down by Deshaun Watson\u2019s contract and committed to paying Myles Garrett more than $123 million guaranteed over the next few years,\u201d Edholm noted. \u201cThat would be a lot to pay two defenders, with Parsons likely seeking a deal that will reset the market at his position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Still, the thought of pairing Parsons with Garrett is enough to make any defensive coordinator salivate.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a team possibly turning to a young QB this year, or someone else next year, there\u2019s justification for loading up on defense,\u201d Edholm continued. \u201cA Parsons-Garrett pass-rush duo would also be borderline unfair \u2014 potentially one of the best pairings ever \u2014 and we know Garrett has been publicly supportive of Parsons’ pursuit for a new contract. It would be a fascinating, if unlikely, mode of rebuilding the Browns.\u201d<\/p>\n

General manager Andrew Berry has the picks. He has the leverage and with the Browns holding both their own and Jacksonville\u2019s first-rounders in 2026, there\u2019s a real chance they\u2019ll be holding two top-10 selections.<\/p>\n

If Berry wants to take a swing \u2014 a real swing \u2014 this might be it.<\/p>\n

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Landing Parsons wouldn\u2019t fix everything in Cleveland, especially with questions still looming at quarterback. But it would give the Browns a generational pass-rush duo, shore up their identity on defense, and buy time while they figure out the future under center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons appear to be heading for a split. On Friday afternoon, the All-Pro…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,1238,1234,21977,34960,23167,14135,1245,16820,593,85,8543,1285],"class_list":["post-39210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-deshaun-watson","tag-eric-edholm","tag-jacksonville","tag-jerry-jones","tag-micah-parsons","tag-myles-garrett","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-the-browns","tag-travis-hunter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}