The Detroit Lions are in desperate need of a playmaker on defense and as though sent from the heavens, Micah Parsons publicly requested a trade from the Dallas Cowboys on Friday, August 1.
Detroit has won the NFC North Division each of the past two seasons. Two years ago, the Lions made the NFC Championship Game before coughing up a huge lead to the San Francisco 49ers in the second half. Last season, the upstart Washington Commanders strolled into the Motor City and smashed up the conference’s top seed in the divisional round.
Both postseasons feel like missed opportunities for a Lions team that has been arguably the best in the league, behind only the Kansas City Chiefs, over the past couple of campaigns. And this offseason, the franchise faces a different sort of issue: the often underrated problem of brain drain.
Head coach Dan Campbell made excellent hires in Ben Johnson as his offensive coordinator and Aaron Glenn as the DC. So good, in fact, that they will enter the 2025 season as the head coaches of the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, respectively.
Detroit could be fine from a coaching/decision-making standpoint, but the best guard against losing infrastructure at the top of the staff — save from another round of great hires and/or promotions — is to fill up the most glaring roster holes with supreme talent.
There can be little debate that the Lions’ biggest weakness on either side of the football is the pass rush, and the franchise has both the assets and salary cap space to address the position in the coming weeks.
Micah Parsons’ Trade Value Is Massive at More Than 2 First-Round Picks
GettyDallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN recently asserted that Parsons is worth at least two first-round picks and will also likely reset the market at his position whenever he signs a new deal.
“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,” Barnwell wrote July 30.
“If [the Cowboys] did decide they [can’t] justify paying three players market-setting deals at the league’s three most expensive positions, he would attract a massive trade haul,” Barnwell continued. “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.”
Lions Have Money, Draft Assets Necessary to Acquire Micah Parsons From Cowboys
GettyDallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons.
Detroit has the money to bring in Parsons, with north of $48 million in available space as of August 1. The Lions can also offer Dallas two first-rounders in 2026 and 2027 in exchange.
Barnwell actually projected Parsons as worth two first-rounders and then some. But the Lions own second-round picks in both of the next two drafts as well as multiple third-rounders next April.
A deal consisting of two firsts (2026, 2027), a second-rounder in 2027 and a third-rounder in 2026 should be in the ballpark of Parsons’ value. The Lions may have to kick in an extra asset (2026 third-rounder) to compensate for the fact that they will likely be highly competitive over the next couple of years, which decreases the value of their first-round picks.
Parsons has produced 63 tackles for loss and 52.5 sacks in 63 games played over his four-year NFL career. He is also a four-time Pro Bowler and has earned All-Pro honors three times.
