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Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - Montana Tom - 08-30-2025
I had this observation yesterday on a thread...Michael Rand of the Strib must have been reading my mind. This morning's column (with sarcastic wit and all}...
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RandBall: Did the Packers just make their version of the Herschel Walker trade?
Green Bay traded a lot to get pass rusher Micah Parsons from Dallas. Was it too much? Michael Rand looks at the deal in today’s 10 things to know.
My most active group chat contains six people, all of whom have gone on many versions of a yearly road trip to see baseball games and other sporting events.
The crew leans heavily toward Minnesota sports, but one of the six is a Wisconsin native and therefore a Packers fan. We try to be supportive of his life choices and understand that sometimes you are just born into circumstances beyond your control.
In the chat Thursday, not long after it was announced that the Packers had made a big swing and traded for Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons, he perhaps got out in front of any heat coming his way by writing, “If Micah Parsons loses his shoe while running a recovered fumble back for a touchdown in his first game, I’m going to be worried.”
It was perfect, of course, in that it required the knowledge that Herschel Walker, in his first game after a blockbuster trade from the Cowboys to the Vikings in 1989 (against my friend’s beloved Packers, no less), scampered 47 yards on a play in which he lost his shoe.
That game unfortunately turned out to be the high water mark in the Walker era with the Vikings. The trade that sent a million players and draft picks to Dallas, laying the foundation for three Super Bowl wins for the Cowboys in the 1990s, is now considered one of the most lopsided in history.
Did Green Bay just make its version of the Walker trade, dealing two first-round picks and game-wrecking run-stuffer Kenny Clark to Dallas while giving Parsons the biggest non-QB contract in history?
The short answer to the Walker trade question is probably not, though Packers fans are probably not soothed by Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones invoking the Walker trade in talking about the Parsons deal.
- The Vikings traded three first-round picks and three second-round picks to get Walker (among other things), which is still painful to type.
- This isn’t that. But ... my first reaction upon seeing the trade was that the Packers gave up a ton to get Parsons. Clark leaves a ton of dead money on the Packers’ cap, has tormented the Vikings for years and should still be a productive player at age 29. The Packers now don’t have a first-round pick until 2028. And Parsons’ $188 million deal over four years ($136 million guaranteed) is massive.
- It’s somewhere between the Walker trade and what the Vikings gave up to get Jared Allen in 2008 from Kansas City (three draft picks, including a first-rounder, and a big new contract for Allen).
- Allen is a Hall of Famer. He almost helped the Vikings reach the Super Bowl after the 2009 season. I don’t know if it’s Super Bowl or bust to judge success with the Parsons trade. But the Walker trade tells us we will know more easily if it was a failure.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - SkolVikings44 - 08-30-2025
I don’t think they gave up all that much for an absolute difference maker. Not close to the Herschel deal.
Before the trade, Green Bay’s O/U on win total was too high. Their defense wasn’t up to 11.5 wins. Well now they get a disrupt or in the most serious way, who will help their weaker secondary. This is big for the Packers, unfortunately.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - StickierBuns - 08-30-2025
(08-30-2025, 09:04 AM)SkolVikings44 Wrote: I don’t think they gave up all that much for an absolute difference maker. Not close to the Herschel deal.
Before the trade, Green Bay’s O/U on win total was too high. Their defense wasn’t up to 11.5 wins. Well now they get a disrupt or in the most serious way, who will help their weaker secondary. This is big for the Packers, unfortunately.
This ^
And its not even close to the Herschel Walker trade. In a different area code.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - Bullazin - 08-30-2025
I for one am going to enjoy watching Darrisaw rag doll Parsons. Parsons is really really good, but the Pack only goes as far as Jordan Love takes them. They will be in it, but neither them nor Parsons puts any fear in me.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - bigbone62 - 08-30-2025
As the years go by what the actual trade was and how it's remembered are quite different. If the trade had been completed as was expected it wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad.
Specifically the draft picks. MN did not outright handover 8 picks. The only guaranteed picks were 1990's 1st, 2nd and sixth.
The other 5 picks were tied to the players traded being on the Dallas roster the following year. Back then teams valued players over picks, absolutely no one thought Jones would cut every last player and take the picks. Reality is in some capacity what Jones did here and how it showed you can build a dynasty through the draft shifted how teams viewed the draft.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - Greylock - 08-30-2025
The big thing with this trade is the money they now have tied up in two players. They lose the two first round picks that is going to hurt, but with the cap space these two eat up, they will most likely have to fill in the roster with 2nd tier players going forward.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - StickierBuns - 08-30-2025
(08-30-2025, 10:11 AM)bigbone62 Wrote: As the years go by what the actual trade was and how it's remembered are quite different. If the trade had been completed as was expected it wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad.
Specifically the draft picks. MN did not outright handover 8 picks. The only guaranteed picks were 1990's 1st, 2nd and sixth.
The other 5 picks were tied to the players traded being on the Dallas roster the following year. Back then teams valued players over picks, absolutely no one thought Jones would cut every last player and take the picks. Reality is in some capacity what Jones did here and how it showed you can build a dynasty through the draft shifted how teams viewed the draft.
Spin it how you want, but this is how it ended up and its beyond gross. Jones/Johnson never ever planned to keep those players, it was always about the draft picks:
Draft Picks: The Cowboys received the Vikings' first three first-round picks, three second-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick.
Players: They also received linebacker Jesse Solomon, linebacker David Howard, cornerback Isaiah Halt, and defensive end Alex Stewart.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - purplefaithful - 08-30-2025
Click Bait comparo, but expected...
Only time will tell - and that Pack opener at home vs Kitties is must watch tv (even more so now)
Parsons makes them a better team no doubt. But will the Love/Parsons era achieve what Favre/White did?
This is the only question that matters. I'm not buying into it unless Love really improves at Yr5...
Detroit is still the team to beat in the division and if JJM is the real deal? Then GB has to get buy us and Detroit every season.
NO SMALL FEAT
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - bigbone62 - 08-30-2025
(08-30-2025, 10:42 AM)StickierBuns Wrote: Spin it how you want, but this is how it ended up and its beyond gross. Jones/Johnson never ever planned to keep those players, it was always about the draft picks:
Draft Picks: The Cowboys received the Vikings' first three first-round picks, three second-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick.
Players: They also received linebacker Jesse Solomon, linebacker David Howard, cornerback Isaiah Halt, and defensive end Alex Stewart.
Lol not spinning. Simply pointing out the majority of people don't know the actual facts about the trade they like to drone on about. Dallas never had any intention of keeping the players and outside of those two, and perhaps other within their inner circle. No one saw that coming. Again, the draft wasn't a big deal. This trade likely changed how teams viewed the draft.
RE: Was this the Packers version of Herschel Walker trade? - greediron - 08-30-2025
(08-30-2025, 09:29 AM)Bullazin Wrote: I for one am going to enjoy watching Darrisaw rag doll Parsons. Parsons is really really good, but the Pack only goes as far as Jordan Love takes them. They will be in it, but neither them nor Parsons puts any fear in me.
I hope KOC puts the run game on overdrive and just runs over Parsons and the huge hole left in the middle. Parsons has talent, but like JA, his lack of discipline in the run game can be a negative. And how will he fit the scheme, will they be reworking their D to accommodate him? Like Walker, will he be a misfit for that scheme?