Micah Parsons says Jerry Jones “slandered” him, and the Cowboys can’t escape the fallout

The Dallas Cowboys’ season is winding down, but the fallout from their controversial decision in the offseason to trade away star defender Micah Parsons is still unfolding. Dallas enters the final week of the season with the league’s worst scoring defense and near the bottom in nearly every major metric. That reality was the main storyline during defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ press conference, where he took responsibility for the unit’s failures, but also acknowledged the obvious.

“Obviously you have an All-Pro pass rusher that wins really quick, that’s certainly going to help any defense if it’s Micah or if it’s Myles [Garrett] or whoever it might be," said Eberflus. “That impact player is always going to help to a certain degree on pass downs and other downs. Again, you can’t look back. It is what it is and you just focus on where you are.”

Parsons couldn’t help but to laugh in their faces, and honestly, who can blame him?

Parsons fires back at Jerry Jones as Cowboys’ defensive collapse fuels old drama

On Thursday, the Green Bay Packers star pass rusher reignited his long-running feud with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones after Eberflus’ comments. Parsons initially responded with laughing emojis. Then came the follow-up, and it cut even deeper.

“Y’all want me to feel bad? Jerry Jones slandered my name to Cowboys media and national media for months,” Parsons wrote on X. “So I do think I can react to comment if I want to! #respectfully”

The Cowboys traded Parsons to Green Bay shortly before the 2025 season after contract talks collapsed in public fashion. At the time, Parsons accused Jones of bypassing his agent, David Mulugheta, creating narratives about his injuries, and negotiating behind closed doors.

Jones, meanwhile, defended his approach and repeatedly praised the trade, even incredulously comparing it to the infamous Herschel Walker deal, insisting Dallas would benefit more from draft capital and veteran help than from paying Parsons top-of-market money. The results haven’t exactly backed that confidence.

Dallas missed the playoffs despite a strong offense, while the defense completely faltered. Parsons, though limited by a knee injury this season, remains one of the league’s most feared defenders when healthy, and now has a platform to say what he couldn’t in Dallas.

Adding fuel to the fire, the Packers recently claimed cornerback Trevon Diggs, Parsons’ former teammate and close friend, after Dallas waived him. Parsons publicly praised the move, saying Diggs is now in a “better situation” and poised to “be great again.”

Meanwhile, Matt Eberflus may be coaching his final game as Dallas’ defensive coordinator this weekend, and Parsons’ comments demonstrate a bigger issue: perception. Jerry Jones was trying to sell the message that Parsons was difficult, injury-prone, or expendable. Now, with the defense in ruins and Parsons thriving elsewhere, that narrative is harder to sell.

The next defensive coordinator won’t have Micah Parsons to build around. But they’ll inherit the consequences of how the Cowboys handled him, and the reminder that stars don’t forget how exits are managed. Parsons certainly hasn’t.

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