Two bitter rivals will kick off the NFL season on Thursday night as the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys square off. Philly is coming off a Super Bowl parade and the Cowboys are coming off a months-long situation between Micah Parsons and Jerry Jones that ended in divorce.
The season opener will have everything a fan and television network could want. There is no shortage of storylines on which to pull. But it could have been even spicier had Dallas been more receptive to the queries of its divisional foe about a potential trade for Parsons.
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter categorized this as a "strong" play. A play the Cowboys had no interest in running.
One team that made a strong play this summer to try to trade for All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons was none other than the Philadelphia Eagles, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2025
The Eagles called the Cowboys to see if they could acquire Parsons and bring him back to Pennsylvania. But the… pic.twitter.com/Yq5wAPhwqM
Parsons would eventually end up in Green Bay. The Eagles will have to settle for trotting out a defense that stymied Patrick Mahomes to win it all. And for not having to gameplan against Parsons twice a year.
It will be interesting to see if there are further details about just how detailed this strong phone call was. On the surface, yes, there's a lot of intrigue because these two teams hate each other. But any front office doing their job would have touched base to see what the deal was with Parsons as all the drama played out.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Adam Schefter Reveals Eagles Made 'Strong' Play for Micah Parsons.