Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons has started a trend, and it’s growing.
Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr.’s record contract extension as the highest-paid non-quarterback ever pleased Parsons. Now a linebacker with the Green Bay Packers, Parsons posted “congrats brother” via X in reaction to Anderson’s deal on Friday.
Parsons previously landed a four-year, $188 million contract extension with the Packers following the 2025 trade. Anderson passed Parsons’ annual average of $46.5 million with $50 million a year in his three-year, $150 million deal with the Texans.
Those annual numbers equate to starting quarterback salaries. Both are ahead of some of the better starters in the league, such as the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes and the Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford.
It could also mean more defensive stars or non-quarterback offensive stars will come calling for large deals sooner than later. Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett could be one of them amid trade speculation.
Micah Parsons’ Absences Was Felt Hard in Dallas
Depending on how the following years in Dallas and Green Bay play out, the Parsons trade could live in infamy.
The Dallas defense took a major step back in 2025 without Parsons, and the Cowboys are tasked with making moves this offseason to fix a last-place defense. Parsons clearly merited the major money all the more in hindsight while he helped the Packers defense thrive.
While the Cowboys missed the playoffs, the Packers performed well as a playoff team. Green Bay could get even more out of Parsons in 2026 if he is back to full health, too.
Dallas, meanwhile, has quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in their primes as stars but just lost a season of that in 2025 with a losing season. While Dallas could trade up in the NFL Draft on April 23 in Pittsburgh, asking a rookie star, no matter how strong, to lead a defense is a tall order.
Owners Willing to Pay Big For Non-QBs
Prescott is the league’s highest-paid player at $60 million annually, and there’s nine more quarterbacks after him who are paid more annually than defensive stars Anderson and Parsons.
In 2024, Prescott signed his four-year, $240 million contract extension, and Packers star quarterback Jordan Love ironically became the second-highest paid with a four-year $220 million deal that same year. Green Bay showed that the team can do both in terms of paying a franchise quarterback and a defensive star north of $45 million annually. Love makes $55 million yearly.
What teams will follow suit is the question. The Jacksonville Jaguars are paying Trevor Lawrence $55 million annually, and two-way star Travis Hunter could command that kind of money if his career develops. The Cincinnati Bengals pay quarterback Joe Burrow $55 million annually, and wide receiver Ja’Mar Chase could be a candidate for a larger deal down the road, since he is at $40.25 million annually.
Dallas won’t likely have the scenario soon unless there’s a major free agent find in 2027 in a massive trade between now and then to bring a defensive star who would command the kind of money that Parsons left The Star in Frisco for the frozen tundra.
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