If you’re like most fans, you’ve probably dreamed of an NFL without a salary cap. Just imagine for a moment: Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie could sign any player they wanted to enhance the Philadelphia Eagles‘ roster. However, maybe that’s not the best scenario after all.
We’d rather our game not resemble what happens in Major League Baseball. Parity is cool. It also makes you appreciate the job that Howie Roseman does.
No one juggles the cap like the Eagles’ GM. Besides, he’ll have more spending money next season, and maybe more flexibility to make more trades like one we recently heard about that never came to fruition.
Micah Parsons digs deeper into the trade that almost landed him in Philadelphia.
We’ve all joked about Micah Parsons’ obvious infatuation with the Eagles before. We’ve joked that he’d love to be on the roster. Never was that possibility closer to being realized than this past season, as Philadelphia and the Dallas Cowboys entertained trade talks before the five-time Pro Bowler landed with the Green Bay Packers.
Fox Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer reported that Philadelphia offered two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a fifth-round pick to acquire Parsons. In the end, Green Bay acquired Parsons for Kenny Clark and two first-round draft picks, while Philadelphia will face both revamped organizations within the first ten weeks of the season.
Lost in the deal was a ‘poison pill’ that all but prevents the Eagles from ever acquiring Parsons while he’s in his prime.
Unbeknownst to everyone except the few who crafted the August blockbuster trade that sent Parsons from Dallas to Green Bay was a “poison pill” condition that, according to sources involved with the deal, prevents the two-time All-Pro from playing for Philadelphia in the immediate future.
The previously unreported condition states that if the Packers decide to trade Parsons to a team in the NFC East — the Eagles tried to trade for him in the summer before being rebuffed — then Green Bay would owe Dallas its 2028 first-round draft pick, sources involved in the trade told ESPN.
The “poison pill” condition also was used on Kenny Clark, the other player involved in the trade, according to sources. If the Cowboys trade Clark to a team in the NFC North, they would owe the Packers their 2028 first-round pick.
The “poison pill” conditions apply to this season and 2026, according to ESPN, meaning the Packers don’t have a clear path to trade Parsons to another NFC East team until 2027 at the earliest.
During a recent episode of his podcast, The Edge with Micah Parsons, which featured A.J. Brown, the host details a detail that Glazer forgot to mention.
Micah Parsons says he was really close to being traded to the Eagles pic.twitter.com/1W5VbnDyTN
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) February 7, 2026
Wait! Did we hear that right? Were the Eagles willing to package Jalen Carter and ship him to the Cowboys for a chance to land Micah Parsons? Is that what you also heard?
It makes sense if you think about it. The Cowboys were clearly looking to add draft capital. They wanted interior defensive linemen. The trade with Green Bay brought defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Dallas would also later trade for Quinnen Williams.
So, what Parsons says makes sense. It also tracks on Philadelphia’s side. The Eagles certainly love edge rushers. Just this past season alone, we fantasized about trades that would add Trey Hendrickson, Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, and Micah Parsons.
Crosby and Garrett signed extensions. We’ll see what the future holds for Hendrickson and whether future moves make dreams come true. But, we can’t stop thinking about what might have happened: Parsons playing in an Eagles jersey, and Jalen Carter leaving Philadelphia to join the Cowboys. Wow! It certainly makes the mind wander, doesn’t it?
That’s the beauty and the burden of restraint. The salary cap doesn’t just prevent superteams. It forces decision-makers to choose which dreams are worth pursuing and which must remain hypothetical.
This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Micah Parsons shares hidden twist in now-famous Eagles trade rumor