Since the trade that sent defensive lineman Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has repeatedly tried to justify the decision by comparing it to the franchise’s famous trade involving running back Herschel Walker. However, this time, Jones threw in a twist: the Walker trade also taught the Cowboys to take “more risk.”

“Even though Micah’s an outstanding talent [that] anybody would like to have, the bottom line is that I like what the result of the trade has ended up as I stand here today.”

As that went down, Jones also compared the Micah Parsons trade to the iconic Herschel Walker trade. The trade changed the franchise’s trajectory and took them to multiple winning seasons.

“You could say those picks got us key players, but the main thing that the Herschel Walker trade did, it caused me to be more aggressive and caused us to, if you will, take more risk because we had more picks.”

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Walker was traded to the Minnesota Vikings during the 1989 season. In return, Dallas received three first-round picks, three second-round picks, one third-round pick, and one sixth-round pick.

Those picks helped Dallas select running back Emmitt Smith in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft. The addition of Smith allowed the Cowboys to complete the Triplets, featuring Smith, wide receiver Michael Irvin, and quarterback Troy Aikman.

Together, the three became the foundation of America’s Team and helped turn the Cowboys into a dynasty during the 90s. Dallas won three Super Bowls in four years between the 1992 and 1995 seasons, with the Triplets serving as the central figures of the team’s success.

Moreover, the Walker trade gave Jones and the Cowboys more flexibility in subsequent drafts. Jones explained that strategy with a Las Vegas twist.

“It’s like going to Las Vegas with some extra money in your pocket or going out there with the baby’s new pair of shoes and formula money in your pocket. You can’t be as good a crapshooter as you are when you’ve got the baby’s new pair of shoes throwing out there with it.

“So, in a way,” Jones added, “this actually created a mental part to us and to my role in it with me, to step out and make the moves and take, if you will, risks that are involved to be where we are today with a complete makeover of the defense.”

However, there is another side to the comparison. When Walker was shipped to Minnesota, he had recorded only one season with more than 1,000 rushing yards in the NFL. Parsons, by contrast, had already established himself as one of the best edge rushers in the league.

Parsons was the first Cowboys player to win the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award and became the first defensive rookie to receive AP All-Pro honors. During the 2024 season, he recorded 12 sacks, 43 tackles, and 23 quarterback hits.

Last season, none of Dallas’ defensive players reached the 10+ sacks mark. Only defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa matched 23 quarterback hits. And the Cowboys also traded him to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2026 third-round pick.

Now, coming back to the Parsons trade, the Cowboys received a 2026 first-round pick, a 2027 first-round pick, and Kenny Clark. That may seem like a limited return for an edge rusher of Parsons’ caliber, but Dallas has tried to use them efficiently.

The Cowboys used their first-round selections on edge rusher Malachi Lawrence at No. 23 in this year’s draft. They also packaged their 2027 first-round pick to acquire star defensive tackle Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets.

“Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to make that kind of trade. That’s why it worked,” Jones said. “But the fact that we revamped our defense, that was an instigator toward that attitude: ‘Let’s come in here and change this up, let’s get rush from the interior, let’s be stronger on the run in the interior with an emphasis on those guys in the middle.’ That’s not an accident. That’s what you see out there from the inside.”

In all fairness, Jerry Jones and company have tried to be “aggressive” this offseason. That appears to have become their motto after Dallas had one of the worst defenses in the league last season. However, whether the Parsons trade was worth it will soon become clearer during the 2026 season.