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FRISCO, TX – Dak Prescott expressed a mix of surprise and understanding regarding the Dallas Cowboys‘ recent trade of linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. The move, finalized in exchange for Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round draft picks, concluded a protracted contract negotiation with Parsons.

The trade dominated cowboys’ training camp conversations, creating a potential distraction as the season approached. Now, with Parsons in Green Bay and Clark joining Dallas, Prescott and the team can shift their focus entirely to football. The Cowboys open their season on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 4.

“Yea, I was,” Prescott said when asked if he was surprised by the team’s decision. “I can’t say I was entirely surprised, but I definitely didn’t think he was going to get traded, I’ll say that. But just with their negotiations went down, obviously to some extent… it seemed like it got personal on their ends, so that’s why I wasn’t surprised.”

prescott acknowledged the extensive media coverage surrounding the situation. “I don’t think anybody’s hung up on that. As I said, there’s enough news and enough media about it. I think, as much as anything, it’s good that a solution happened, Micah got paid, got paid very well, great for him and his family,” he stated. “we’ll see him here in about a month.”

He added, “Just honestly glad that, I can’t say glad, but glad that we moved past that and everybody seems happy because of it.” Prescott emphasized the relief of avoiding a season-long distraction. “If nothing would have been done, we’d sit here and y’all still would have been asking me whether he was playing in a couple of days or when he was going to be playing, that would be a lot more of a headache and distraction than getting a solution to it.”

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones framed the trade as a move to strengthen the team both now and in the future. Prescott agrees with the need to demonstrate improvement on the field. “We added a great player, got some picks for the future,” Prescott said. “I’m not going to say we’re better, we’ve got to go out there and prove it. We’d have to prove it even if [Parsons] was on this team, so I’m not going to say that by any means.”

In the modern NFL, speed is a paramount attribute for success, a lesson Cowboys’ personnel executive Will McClay learned early from his father, Melvin.

“Football is a game of leverage and angles,” McClay stated, crediting his father with instilling this understanding. “Leverage and angles, that’s speed, right? I didn’t go into math class, I went straight to P.E., but there’s some principles that I learned, right?”

He elaborated, “The faster that you can play, the faster you can get from point A to point B, the quicker you can make things happen.”

Beyond physical velocity, McClay emphasized the critical role of processing speed in gaining on-field advantages.

“It’s the old saying: Speed kills,” McClay remarked. “If you know what you’re doing, if you understand where your weaknesses are, if you know that if you’re on top of things, if you play fast, people don’t want to play fast. People don’t want to play physical. If you can do it down after down after down, you impose your will on people, and you have to condition for that.”

While physical speed is readily apparent on game film, evaluating toughness presents a greater challenge, yet it remains an equally vital trait for McClay and the Cowboys association.This raises the question of how toughness is assessed.

“The guys are going to be put in situations that you’ve got to make a decision to put your face on somebody else, you got to make that decision to do that tough thing,” McClay explained. “The more opportunities we put you in that situation, or view you in those environments, that’s when I can tell if you can do it or not.”

Thes situations and environments extend beyond the football field.

“We have to evaluate everything, and so there are key moments,” McClay saeid.”There’s little things like guys being in, even the chow hall, you watch them. Who picks up their plate? You’re looking for all these different things, when he gets out there on the field, it’s those instances where, hey, that’s a tough situation, and he made the decision to do that.”

This extensive evaluation process, both on and off the field, continues for McClay and his staff as the Cowboys progress through their training camp in Oxnard, with the 2025 season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles approximately 40 days away.

News – Tommy Yarrish

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