Micah Parsons Traded To Packers

Simpleton

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I mean this was the concern of a lot of people here. That eventually the body would wear down.
I think this particular situation is bullshit but he's almost certainly going to be worn down by 30. I don't see him being one of these guys who ages gracefully and maintains his level into his early 30s.

It's one of the main reasons I was fine moving him.
 

Cowboysrock55

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I think this particular situation is bullshit but he's almost certainly going to be worn down by 30. I don't see him being one of these guys who ages gracefully and maintains his level into his early 30s.

It's one of the main reasons I was fine moving him.
I mean I could see him having a Vonn Miller type career but Vonn Miller probably wasn't lining up at NT much.
 

Texas Ace

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If we had moved him for say 2 1sts and 2nd or even Matthew Golden, a 1st and a 2nd, I'd be perfectly fine right now.

But being as we only got 2 1sts and a solid starter, it simply isn't enough.
 

Simpleton

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I mean I could see him having a Vonn Miller type career but Vonn Miller probably wasn't lining up at NT much.
Miller really dropped off a cliff around 30 or so though, he wasn't elite anymore. He had a really good stretch of like half a season with the Rams to win it all but he wasn't a Pro Bowl/All Pro type anymore.

Garrett for example I think will remain elite into his early 30s.

Parsons also has very short arms, around 31.5 whereas Miller is 33+. Small things like that build up and add to the punishment you take as you get to the back of your career.

I'm sure Parsons has another 4ish elite years in him but the drop will be fast when it happens.
 

Simpleton

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Just got done watching the last of the all-22 on Clark and I have to say, if I hadn't looked at his stats or seen the random tweets about PFF bullshit metrics, I'd have 100% said that he's still the borderline Pro Bowl type he has been over his career based on what I saw over the back half of the season.

I watched both Detroit games, the Rams, Dolphins, 49ers, Seahawks, 2nd Vikings game and the Eagles playoff game. I focused more on the back half of the season given the injury he had in the opener and wanted to see him against the better teams in the NFC (all of the playoff teams except Tampa and Washington).

I think you can see the physical improvement as the year went on, he looked way more sudden and fluid later in the season than he did earlier on (Rams and 1st Detroit game). To me the difference in his burst and mobility in the later part of the season was visible.

If the guy was 27 I'd say the trade was pretty fair overall but given his age we definitely should've gotten an extra 2, at least in 2027.

Some general observations:

-Completely dominated the 2nd Lions game vs. the run, beat Ragnow and Sewell multiple times. I can't overstate how impressive this performance was, it was almost like a highlight reel from a single game and I was legitimately shocked at what he did to their OL.
-Surprising burst/timing off the snap for his size, after the bye he was the first off the ball several times a game, even before the edge rushers. This shows up in the run game, not just in clear passing situations.
-Probably won't jump out to the naked eye as a pass-rusher when watching games live from the TV feed because so much of what he does is based on battering linemen and constricting the pocket, but several times a game he'll walk guys back to where the QB can't fully step into throws.
-Great motor, always working, there was one play against the Vikings where he was triple teamed by the LG/C and a chipping RB, he kept fighting through and ended up tipping the pass which was nearly intercepted.
-Looked to usually be the focus of most interior OL's on clear passing downs, I think it'll be interesting to see how this plays out with Osa who will usually get the attention in those spots. I don't think teams will want to leave Osa 1-on-1 often, so I think Clark has the potential to put up some pretty big stats compared to his career average (only had double-digit QB hits three times over his career).
-Excellent range/hustle for a DT, you see him chasing down plays from the backside to get in on tackles that you don't normally see out of DT's. On one play against SF he lined up on one hash and chased laterally almost all the way to the opposite sideline to get in on a tackle on McCaffrey.
-Had clean pass rush wins against Dominick Puni and Aaron Banks, Puni was very good as a rookie and Banks is now one of the highest paid OG's in the league.
-Almost never loses badly when blocked 1-on-1 in the run game, even against elite OL like Ragnow, Sewell and Lane Johnson. The only times I really saw him get blown off the ball were the 2-3 times he had to take on a Mailata/Dickerson double team against the Eagles, which is probably one of the best OT/OG duos in the league.
-Generally really good vs. "normal" doubles, holds the POA well without getting pushed back much and does a good job of causing a pileup to limit running room.
-Really good processing vs. the run, you can see the film study in how he anticipates where the play is meant to go. There were several times where he was blocked but looped around the pile to meet the RB where they were heading. He wasn't just guessing though, it's under control, I didn't see any times where he just left his gap wildly and opened a huge running lane that was taken advantage of.

At the end of the day this guy is basically the anti-Mazi in every way. He hustles nonstop, has really good get-off, and dominates in the run game, pretty much everything Mazi half asses this guy does really well.
 
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ravidubey

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I mean this was the concern of a lot of people here. That eventually the body would wear down.
He’s going to get a shot and play. Apparently this is something lots of players and people in general experience.

My thing about Parsons is he’s one guy in a team sport who plays defense and isn’t even a powerful guy like Myles Garrett. He’s been shoehorned into a position where he’s just rushing every down. He’s a unique talent, but we don’t use him right— not in a 4-3 defense we don’t. 3-4, like the great LT, Rickey Jackson, or Demarcus Ware— different story. But just replacing a 4-3 undersized pass rusher? We have a boatload of those. Not going to replace his full production, but will still be good enough.

Getting Kenny Clark is huge, and I still can’t understand why the media at large seem utterly clueless about it, like he wasn’t even a part of the trade. I understand Clark is about to turn 30, but we are getting a very effective player.

Last thing is if Parsons wanted to be in Dallas he’d be here, but he went for the money pure and simple, no ‘empathy’ about it.
 

Simpleton

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He’s going to get a shot and play. Apparently this is something lots of players and people in general experience.

My thing about Parsons is he’s one guy in a team sport who plays defense and isn’t even a powerful guy like Myles Garrett. He’s been shoehorned into a position where he’s just rushing every down. He’s a unique talent, but we don’t use him right— not in a 4-3 defense we don’t. 3-4, like the great LT, Rickey Jackson, or Demarcus Ware— different story. But just replacing a 4-3 undersized pass rusher? We have a boatload of those. Not going to replace his full production, but will still be good enough.

Getting Kenny Clark is huge, and I still can’t understand why the media at large seem utterly clueless about it, like he wasn’t even a part of the trade. I understand Clark is about to turn 30, but we are getting a very effective player.

Last thing is if Parsons wanted to be in Dallas he’d be here, but he went for the money pure and simple, no ‘empathy’ about it.
The media isn't about doing meaningful indepth analysis, which is what it'd take to try to quantify the value of a non-flashy player like Clark who plays a subtle position that doesn't lend itself to pure stats.

It's much easier to stick to a basic talking point like two 1's that are likely to be in the 20s, followed by blathering on about how Jerry is an idiot (which is true).
 

Chocolate Lab

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Exactly, the media have always been pretty superficial, but now they're National Enquirer or TMZ levels of celebrity-only carnival barking. So of course they don't care about a relatively unknown (to the gen pop fan) solid vet DT like Kenny Clark.

And great post above @Simpleton. I haven't watched nearly that much but I haven't seen the huge drop-off some claim either.

I wonder if besides the toe, it made a difference that last year GB was in that new "attack front" more like Eberflus plays? Maybe that took a while to adjust to after years (maybe his whole career) of more of a hold your ground defense/technique? He mentioned that was new to him last year. Either way, it's good he's played in this style now and it's not totally foreign to him here.
 

Simpleton

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Exactly, the media have always been pretty superficial, but now they're National Enquirer or TMZ levels of celebrity-only carnival barking. So of course they don't care about a relatively unknown (to the gen pop fan) solid vet DT like Kenny Clark.

And great post above @Simpleton. I haven't watched nearly that much but I haven't seen the huge drop-off some claim either.

I wonder if besides the toe, it made a difference that last year GB was in that new "attack front" more like Eberflus plays? Maybe that took a while to adjust to after years (maybe his whole career) of more of a hold your ground defense/technique? He mentioned that was new to him last year. Either way, it's good he's played in this style now and it's not totally foreign to him here.
Thanks, it's hard to know how much scheme played into it although it was their DC's first year, so maybe. Either way, I saw a very high caliber player over the last 5-6 games of the year, plus the playoffs, and against high quality opponents at that.

He's never been a guy who puts up gaudy sack/QB hit numbers to begin with (he had a similar statistical season in 2020 where he was also banged up), so I think it just might have been "one of those years" where you don't get a few more plays to show up in the box score. The run defense was still excellent and I saw enough in his pass rush to feel good about him next to a guy like Osa.

The only issue is that he's 30 and not 27-28.

I do wonder what the reaction would've been like if the trade had been to Tampa for two 1's and Vita Vea, who is a very similar player both in terms of style and quality, and is also 30 himself. Tampa is also a similar caliber team to Green Bay, a likely playoff team but not on the elite tier with Baltimore/Buffalo/KC. I think because he brings a bit more name recognition it would've been a bit more positive, although either way we still should've gotten another pick or two due to the age.
 

ravidubey

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The only issue is that he's 30 and not 27-28.

I do wonder what the reaction would've been like if the trade had been to Tampa for two 1's and Vita Vea, who is a very similar player both in terms of style and quality, and is also 30 himself. Tampa is also a similar caliber team to Green Bay, a likely playoff team but not on the elite tier with Baltimore/Buffalo/KC. I think because he brings a bit more name recognition it would've been a bit more positive, although either way we still should've gotten another pick or two due to the age.
The media knows Vea as a top ten prospect thanks to their coverage of the draft while Clark was a late 1st pick and in some evaluators' eyes a 2nd round talent reached for by a team desperate to bolster their front. Of course, five years later it was clear the Pack knocked it out of the park and had as nearly good a prospect as Vea.

It's clear Clark achieved his high level success through a lot of hard work as his talent didn't pop off the tape back in 2016. That has me fired up. Just hoping he can stay healthy and have a Suh-type career staying dominant through his 34-year old season.
 

Chocolate Lab

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Ed Werder said on the Ticket an hour or so ago that he talked to six GMs and they didn't all think this was a bad deal. Werder said he was surprised how many didn't love Micah that much, and that several said he got too many sacks in situations where it didn't benefit the team that much. One said the team did a good job of making the most of an untenable situation.

And Werder is definitely no Jerry fan.
 

Simpleton

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Ed Werder said on the Ticket an hour or so ago that he talked to six GMs and they didn't all think this was a bad deal. Werder said he was surprised how many didn't love Micah that much, and that several said he got too many sacks in situations where it didn't benefit the team that much. One said the team did a good job of making the most of an untenable situation.

And Werder is definitely no Jerry fan.
I think two things are true:

1. We should've gotten more value in terms of picks and I believe it's another example of the organization acting hastily and being reactive.
2. The trade wasn't some historic lopsided swindle. We should've gotten an extra 2 or something along those lines, but at the end of the day we got more than the Raiders did for Mack, which was almost a carbon copy situation.

The media just isn't capable of nuanced thought anymore and everything is mostly boiled down to the lowest common denominator in terms of analysis and talking points.

I think the whole nonsensical Luka comparison probably fueled the outrage as well when this situation is nothing like it. A top 5-10 NBA player in their 20's is something every team is desperate to find, and some aren't able to do so for decades even.

A non-QB top 10 player (which Micah might not even truly be in the first place) in the NFL is extremely valuable but it's a fraction of the value that a player like that has in the NBA. You literally cannot win an NBA championship without a top 5-10 player in the league, in the NFL most teams that win championships don't have a top 5-10 non-QB.
 

Simpleton

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So as @Genghis Khan said, it was mostly a pure money thing and everything Parsons was saying at the end of last season about not being the highest paid was bullshit.

Everything Mulugheta said is accurate in terms of future increases, the APY, how the cash is structured and so forth, but at the end of the day he confirmed the Cowboys offer was $40.5/year, and if Micah just wanted to remain a Cowboy as "one of the highest paid" players, that offer easily made it happen.

So the long and short of it is, fuck him.
 
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