According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, the Indianapolis Colts were among the interested initial suitors that called the Dallas Cowboys on potentially acquiring their former star pass rusher, Micah Parsons, prior to him surprisingly being traded to the Green Bay Packers last week:
“About a week before the deal was finalized, word spread that the Cowboys’ stance on dealing their star had shifted,“writes Russini. “‘We’re not trading Parsons’ had quickly become ‘OK, what can we get?’ That opened the door. The Colts, Panthers, Bills and Patriots all made calls and were told the price: two first-round picks, a significant player, and, of course, a record-setting contract.”
Russini notes that while the Colts placed an initial trade inquiry on Parsons with the Cowboys, the 26-year-old, 3x NFL All-Pro actually preferred both the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers as his next destinations.
That was a big advantage, especially when gauging his interest on signing a lucrative, multi-year mega-extension.
Obviously, the Cowboys would be highly reluctant to trade a star young pass rusher in his prime to a hated division rival, so that left the Packers as his only other remaining preferred option.
The Packers met the Cowboys asking price, surrendering their 2026 and 2027 first round picks, as well as 3x NFL Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas—making it another rare moment in history, when a team actually traded a young star pass rusher entering their prime.
Now, just because the Colts inquired, doesn’t mean that those talks with Dallas went past very preliminary trade discussions, as Indianapolis likely at least calls about the availability of a number of players possibly being made available throughout the league at times, much less on one of the best pass rushers in the game.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard may have just been performing his due diligence, particularly on a former 3x NFL All-Pro, 4x NFL Pro Bowler, and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, just over the age of 25-years-old—with 52.5 career sacks and counting.
Those caliber of players are rarely traded, and the Colts could use help at one of the league’s premium positions.
When even thinking about the possibility of a Parsons trade earlier (which seemed far-fetched for Indianapolis), there’s no individual player that could’ve been offered in a potential package by the Colts currently on their roster that they shouldn’t have considered trading for the star pass rusher.
It also shows that even after investing three fairly recent first round picks into the Colts defensive line: DeForest Buckner (*via trade), Kwity Paye, and Laiatu Latu, there’s still some work to do. The Colts ranked just 26th in total team sacks last year with 36.0 respectively.
0 CommentsSee More:
