GREEN BAY The Green Bay Packers shook up the NFL this week by pulling off a blockbuster trade for three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons. It’s the kind of move that instantly raises questions about where it stands among the most important acquisitions in franchise history.
Was it as significant as the 1992 trade for Brett Favre?
Does it stack up to the 1993 signing of Reggie White?
Could it have the same impact as landing Charles Woodson in 2006?
The honest answer: not yet.
Those three players not only transformed the Packers but also brought Super Bowl championships to Green Bay. Favre and White led the 1996 team to a Super Bowl XXXI win, while Woodson helped power the 2010 squad to victory in Super Bowl XLV. All three now have busts in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Parsons, 26, still has a lot to prove in green and gold. But what makes this deal different is how steep the price was. The Packers gave Dallas two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark, then handed Parsons a four-year, $188 million contract extension.
The payoff could be huge. Parsons has recorded at least 12 sacks in each of his first four NFL seasons the only other player ever to start a career that way is Reggie White. And unlike White, who joined Green Bay at 31 after a decade in pro football, Parsons is still in his prime.
White’s arrival in 1993 changed more than just the defense. For years, Green Bay had a reputation as the NFL’s “Siberia,” a place players didn’t want to go. White’s decision to sign there made other stars reconsider. His former teammate Santana Dotson remembered the moment clearly.
“When he made the decision to come to Green Bay, you raised an eyebrow. It made you sit up and take notice,” Dotson said. White convinced him to visit, and once he did, Dotson said the entire organization “just felt like home.”
Woodson’s story was different. At 29, the former Heisman Trophy winner had talent but little demand on the free-agent market. Green Bay was the only team interested. By his own admission, Woodson wasn’t happy about it at first.
“I really didn’t quite want to be there,” Woodson said in a 2021 interview. “I was sour about that… But I’m really glad I didn’t get out of it, because it turned out the way it turned out.” He went on to become a defensive leader and eventual Hall of Famer.
Favre’s path might be the most unlikely. At 22, he was a disaster as a rookie in Atlanta, admitting he showed up hungover to the team photo. All it took for Green Bay to get him was a single first-round pick. But new general manager Ron Wolf was convinced Favre had the arm to be a franchise quarterback.
Wolf recalled in 2019 how quickly he made the decision. “I’m going to trade for Brett Favre,” he told team president Bob Harlan at the time. Harlan agreed, though he admitted with a laugh, “I didn’t know who Brett Favre was.”
Unlike Favre back then, Parsons is already a household name, which makes his situation feel closest to White’s. And maybe Parsons should keep in mind what Wolf once told White during that historic free-agent pitch:
“You’re already a great football player,” Wolf said. “You come to Green Bay, you’ll be a legend.”
