The Chicago Bears are missing a true disruptor on the defensive front and one just declared himself available.
Micah Parsons wants out from under the Dallas Cowboys as negotiations have reached a gridlock. He made his intentions and desires known in a post to his personal X account on Friday, August 1.
“I have made a tough decision,” Parsons wrote. “I no longer want to play for the Dallas Cowboys.”
Whether the Cowboys honor his request remains an open question. Parsons is entering the fifth-year team option on his current contract, after which Dallas would have the choice to place the franchise tag on its star edge rusher. That means that the Cowboys control at least the next two years of Parsons’ career, which gives the team significant leverage when it comes to his trade request.
But if Dallas really isn’t interested in paying Parsons like the best defensive player in the NFL, several opposing teams will be. Among them should be the Bears, who are missing the exact type of game-swinging defensive playmaking that Parsons has proven to provide over his four-year career.
Bears Lack Any Pass Rusher Remotely Close to Micah Parsons’ Talent, Production Levels
Chicago’s top edge rusher last season was Montez Sweat with 5.5 sacks, followed by defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. (five sacks) and linebacker T.J. Edwards who put up a career high with four sacks.
The Bears need to disrupt opposing pockets better in 2025, and they need to add a pure edge rusher to do it.
Parsons is a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro with 63 tackles for loss and 52.5 sacks in 63 games played. Chicago added to the defensive line this offseason, signing tackle Grady Jarrett and end Dayo Odeyingbo. But neither is a pass-rush specialist or savant. In fact, Odeyingbo is liable to rotate to the interior of the unit on obvious passing downs.
So even despite addressing the defensive front with significant investment this spring, Chicago remains absent the type of edge rusher they could so obviously benefit from acquiring.
Micah Parsons Will Cost Bears More Than 2 First-Round Picks
However, Parsons won’t be cheap if the Bears can land him in a trade.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently examined just how expensive the defensive end is at this point in his career, dubbing him worth two first-round draft picks and then some.
The baseline for a Parsons deal a year ago would have been Nick Bosa’s extension, which is worth $34 million per year. Now, [T.J.] Watt’s deal is up to an average annual value (AAV) of $41 million. Parsons is going to get a record-setting deal when he signs.
I expect that to occur with the Cowboys before Week 1, but if they did decide they couldn’t justify paying three players market-setting deals at the league’s three most expensive positions, he would attract a massive trade haul. The closest comp is Khalil Mack, who in 2018 was traded before his fifth season with a second-round pick for two first-round picks, a third-rounder and a sixth-rounder.
The Bears own the top of their draft the next two seasons and made extensive upgrades across the offensive line, defensive line and pass-catching corps throughout this offseason. Plus, they already have their QB of the future in former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams.
As such, Chicago is among the teams that could justify giving up first-round picks in 2026 and 2027, as well as a second-rounder next season, to fill in the last and largest gap on the roster by dealing for a generational talent like Parsons.
