Paul Bretl | 8/30/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers accumulate draft capital. “You can never have enough,” as we’ve heard GM Brian Gutekunst say in the past. This is a key part of their organizational philosophy and roster-building approach that extends beyond Gutekunst’s tenure.
So when the Packers traded away their next two first-round picks, along with defensive tackle stalwart Kenny Clark, to acquire Micah Parsons–yeah, that was very much against the grain.
But this was a unique situation. There are very few Micah Parsons-caliber players in the NFL, and those players just do not become available. So when lightning strikes, you go against the organizational grain and pay the premium.
“Obviously a player like Micah, he’s very unique and very rare is it that they’re available,” Gutekunst said on Friday evening. “As this kind of came together, it was one of those things where it was a unique opportunity for us, and it was going to cost. There was going to be some expense with it, but we just kind of thought it was the best thing for our football team. We’re excited to get him.”
Matt LaFleur also called this a “very rare, rare, rare opportunity” to land a player of Parsons’ caliber.
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Along with trading away two first-round draft picks and Clark for Parsons, the Packers also made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Under contract for the 2025 season, the Packers signed Parsons to a four-year extension, keeping him in Green Bay for the next five seasons. This record-setting deal is worth $186 million in total and includes $136 million guaranteed.
Between Parsons’ and Jordan Love’s contracts, the Packers are paying just those two players over $100 million per season based on average annual values. With deals of those magnitudes on the books, the margins can become much smaller when it comes to navigating the offseason.
There can be less cap space to utilize in free agency and less available money for the Packers to re-sign their own draft picks. In addition to that, while every team wants to hit on every draft pick, it becomes a near-must in these situations in order to have some high-level contributors on relatively inexpensive rookie deals to help offset the major contracts.
However, Gutekunst doesn’t feel that stress when it comes to the impact of Parsons’ contract on the salary cap. In fact, he really likes how the first three years (2025-2027) shook out. Helping the Packers lower the initial cap hits were a $44 million signing bonus, which can be prorated over the life of the contract, along with using two void years on the back end of the deal, providing additional years to push current cap charges towards.
“I really like the three-year cap numbers, the first three years,” Gutekunst said of the contract. “I think that’s gonna give us the flexibility with a lot of really good players coming up that we’re still gonna be able to keep those guys. There’s no doubt when you acquire a player like this, who’s gonna take up that much of the cap, that you’re gonna have to make some choices. You always do.
“But again, looking at it right now, the cap numbers for 25, 26 and 27, I think are pretty solid for us and we’ll kind of see where that goes.”
Parsons is a four-time Pro Bowler, a three-time All-Pro, and has generated the fifth-most sacks in football since entering the NFL. All you have to do to see his impact is flip on any Cowboys game or head to any site that tracks player metrics.
But Parsons’ impact will go well beyond his own column in the stat sheet. For one, as LaFleur can attest to having gone up against Parsons, in the week leading up to the game, there is an added stressor that comes with planning for his presence on the field. It “keeps you up at night,” LaFleur said.
On the field, Parsons’ ability to win and win quickly can allow the Packers to rush just four defenders more often, still have the opportunity to get after the quarterback, while then dropping seven into coverage.
Offenses will also have to pick their poison, so to speak. If you double-team Parsons, then that leaves Rashan Gary and others in one-on-one matchups. And if you don’t double-team Parsons, well, the ball better be coming out hot.
On top of all of that, there is his versatility. Not only can he be moved around the defensive front, but he can play off-ball linebacker as well. So paired with the high-impact player is the ability for Jeff Hafley to utilize him in a variety of ways, throwing a number of different looks at quarterbacks, which, on its own, can certainly present challenges.
“It’s a challenge,” LaFleur said of game-planning for Parsons. “Any time you got a premier edge rusher it’s a big time challenge. First and second down, are you going to play-action pass? Do you really wanna have only one guy on him? There’s a lot of different hoops you gotta jump through and you don’t know where necessarily he’s always going to line up. Is he going to line up inside, outside?
“That’s where it’s really fun for our defensive staff and becomes a real challenge for you offensively because, like I said, he’s made a lot of people look really bad. He wins so fast. That’s the thing that you really have to account for is just how fast he can get to the quarterback.”
Parsons has yet to practice this summer as he worked through a back issue and contract negotiations with Dallas. Gutekunst is confident that the back injury isn’t long-term and that they’ll be able to work through it quickly.
However, from the sounds of it, there will still need to be a ramp-up period for Parsons after not playing actual football for several months.
“I think we’re going to have to see,” Gutekunst said about Parsons’ workload Week 1. “We’ll have a chance to get him out there Monday and see where he’s at. Certainly, I think we’re hopeful that he’ll help us in some form or fashion in the opener, but I do think it’s on us to be smart and make sure that he’s ready to go.”
Along with ramping up physically, Parsons will be getting a crash course in Hafley’s defense, which will begin on Sunday afternoon when he returns to Green Bay with the rest of the players. As LaFleur said, there will be a lot of time spent together, but he’s also confident that the acclimation will take place quickly.
A move of this magnitude feels like the chips are being pushed to the middle of the table for the 2025 season. But as Gutekunst reminded everyone, this was a move that was made not only for 2025 but for multiple seasons. With Parsons still just 26 years old and the Packers still retaining some cap flexibility in the coming years, while Gutekunst has said he doesn’t believe in championship windows, this current window for the Packers is wide open.