Sports
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: Micah Parsons trade gives team ‘chance to be better’ than recent years
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sat in front of reporters Thursday addressing the stunning Micah Parsons trade to the Green Bay Packers.
The main question on everyone’s mind was why make the trade?
“This gives us a chance to be a better team than we’ve had the last several years,” Jones said with his son, CEO and director of player personnel Stephen Jones, sitting to his right.
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at training camp at the River Ridge Fields July 27, 2025. (Kirby Lee/ Imagn Images)
“We did think it was in the best interest of our organization, not only the future, but right now in this season as well.”
It’s hard for Cowboys fans to fathom the deal was made to benefit the team’s win total in 2025 and the future, but Jones offered some specifics to the contrary, starting with the acquisition of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark as part of the deal.
“We’ve gained a Pro Bowl player in an area that we had big concerns in — in the inside of our defense,” Jones said.
“The facts are we need to stop the run. We haven’t been able to stop the run for several years.”
Jones added trade talks for Parsons went on throughout the spring, though he said he offered Parsons a deal in April. He has previously said he offered Parsons the highest contract for a non-quarterback in NFL history, and he doubled down Thursday night that he offered him more guaranteed money than the reported $136 million he got in the four-year, $188 million Packers extension he received after being traded.
“I will say this: It was important that we did get, if we could get it, the kind of interest that we got in making a trade for Micah,” Jones said. “He was an asset we got four good years out of. But when you’re talking about making the contract that he got and for the future, that’s quite a commitment. None of that counts about what he did the first four years. It goes against what he can do for you in the future.”
The Cowboys also received the Packers’ 2026 and 2027 first-round picks, which Jones said he wouldn’t rule out trading for another established player.
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons at training camp at the River Ridge Fields July 26, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“Not only do we immediately get a player, but those draft picks could get us … I’m talking top Pro Bowl-type players — could. I’m not necessarily going to say you’ll get those players. You gotta draft them or acquire them,” Jones explained.
“But they could get us as few as three or as many as five outstanding players. Now, not only do they contribute to a game that needs a lot of players on the field, but they also give you better odds that a high percentage of those are going to be available.”
Jones said that it was a consensus decision, both in the front office and by the coaching staff, to make the trade with the Packers. He added that it was still up in the air Thursday morning, as Clark went to Packers practice as usual.
Jones was also asked about an NFL Network report that said Parsons returned to the Cowboys out of “empathy” when the trade interest was leaked earlier this week. Parsons claims he was told by the team to “play on the 5th year or leave.”
“It was not in any way out of the order or anything like that,” Jones replied when asked about that report. “I think I’ve read where they said I replied, ‘We’re playing under the contract as it exists right now. Get ready to play Philadelphia.’ Correct, that was correct.”
With the trade finalized, the Cowboys are looking toward their future while also being of the belief they can win right now, starting with Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones before a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium Aug. 16, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
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“I want to be sure that our fans understand I think a lot of Micah, and I wish him so much success,” Jones said. “I don’t want him to have success when he plays the Cowboys as much as I do want him to have overall success. Micah Parsons did an outstanding job for us for four years.
“There’s no question that I could have signed him in April. We all know that, to have agreements, all parties have to agree. This was by design. I did make Micah an offer. It wasn’t acceptable, and I honored the fact that it wasn’t done in the way he wanted to do it through an agent.
“So, he was made an offer. … There’s not an ounce of vindictiveness. There’s no bad feelings on my part on the fact that we didn’t come together on an agreement.”
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Sports
Stephen A Smith calls Zion Williamson a ‘food addict,’ suggests Pelicans ‘encouraged’ him to rip NBA star
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It is no secret that Zion Williamson has had his struggles.
Nearly three years ago, the NBA star admitted to dieting struggles, and in a recent interview with ESPN, he said the lowest point of his career was missing his third season with a broken foot and being criticized for his “weight” and “care for the game.”
ESPN star Stephen A. Smith has ripped Williamson on those critical issues in the past, and he did so again on Tuesday, going as far as to suggest that the New Orleans Pelicans actually “encouraged” him to attack Williamson.
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Left, Stephen A. Smith speaks onstage on day 2 of the 2025 HOPE Global Forum at Signia by Hilton Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, on Dec. 2, 2025. Right, Zion Williamson (1) of the New Orleans Pelicans looks on against the Philadelphia 76ers at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
“The information that emanated about Zion Williamson, it came from inside the organization. It came from people even closer than that to Zion Williamson, I’m gonna leave it at that,” Smith said on Tuesday’s “First Take.” “People that called up and encouraged us to get in his a– because of some of the things that he was doing. You got people that are alcoholics, you got people that are drug addicts and stuff like that. What was Zion’s problem? Food! Food addict!
“The joke was everybody in New Orleans that cooked, it could be everybody from a restaurant, a chef, to your grandmama. Everybody that cooked knew about Zion Williamson. And he knew them! They were on a first-name basis. Cause that brother ate a lot! You even have rumors, and literally, I’m here thinking it was a joke, and somebody told me to go on the air and point out how he got busted hiding food under his bed. This is the kind of stuff that was happening.”
Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans looks on during the game against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 1, 2024 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
Smith’s comments prompted the Pelicans’ social media team to troll him and his athletic abilities, which is hardly a new phenomenon. They did the same in 2024.
“Stick to solitaire Stephen,” the team posted with a montage of Smith’s embarrassing athletic moments.
Pulling out stuff from a decade, two decades, three decades ago, ???? No problem. See y’all tomorrow on First Take. Remember one thing: YOU ASKED FOR THiS!!!!” Smith replied.
Host Stephen A. Smith in conversation with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) at a SiriusXM Town Hall event at SiriusXM Studio on Nov. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
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Williamson transformed his body over the offseason, and it has resulted in him playing 46 games — his second-highest total since the 2020-21 season. His stats have taken a hit, as he’s averaged a career-low 21.5 points.
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WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Liverpool can’t say they weren’t warned. Even before a ball was kicked at Molineux on Tuesday night, the modus operandi of hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers was encapsulated in the banner draped over the centre circle, bearing the words: “Fear Nothing.”
Despite being rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with virtually no chance of escaping relegation, Wolves’ recent triumph over high-flying Aston Villa suggested they are intent on not relinquishing their proud top flight status without a fight. Certainly, Rob Edwards’ side delivered a knockout blow to visitors Liverpool when midfielder André‘s strike deflected past Alisson Becker to consign the Reds to another chastening late loss.
The Brazil international’s 94th-minute winner means Liverpool have now lost five games to goals after the 90th minute this season — the most of any side in a single campaign in Premier League history. In addition to those defeats against Wolves, Manchester City, AFC Bournemouth, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Liverpool have also conceded injury-time equalisers to Fulham and Leeds United, squandering nine precious points in the process.
In a season characterised by late drama — for good reasons and for bad — Liverpool’s propensity for exposing their soft underbelly has too often been their undoing. A heady cocktail of misfortune and poor defending paved the way for Wolves’ last-gasp winner, handing the reigning Premier League champions a 2-1 loss to the league’s last-place team.
But while the Reds can bemoan the missed foul on Dominik Szoboszlai and the heavy deflection off Joe Gomez, the alarming frequency of their capitulations this season means this is no hard luck story.
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Ahead of Tuesday’s trip to the West Midlands, Liverpool coach Arne Slot was asked for his opinion of the Premier League’s increasing focus on physicality and set pieces, and he gave a candid appraisal: “Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it.”
While his comments will have resonated in some quarters, there was very little about Liverpool’s play against Wolves that will have satisfied the football purists. The first half at Molineux was something of a non-event, with Cody Gakpo‘s tame effort on goal the only passable chance carved out by the visitors, who have been culpable of letting too many contests pass them by this term.
Wolves, meanwhile, were content to let Slot’s men have the ball and wait for an opportunity to pounce. They did so with a vengeance in the 78th minute when Tolu Arokodare outmuscled Virgil van Dijk and picked out Rodrigo Gomez, who expertly dinked the ball over Alisson to convert the hosts’ first shot on target.
According to Opta, it is the second-latest a team has scored with their first shot of a Premier League match, after Fulham vs. Newcastle in October 2022 (88th minute). Parity was restored just five minutes later when Mohamed Salah picked off a loose pass from Jean Ricner-Bellegarde and slotted past José Sá.
It was Salah’s first Premier League goal since Nov. 1 but while the Egypt international finally broke his drought, his overall lack of efficacy once again brought Liverpool’s lack of dynamism out wide into sharp focus. On the other flank, Gakpo’s most notable contribution came when he appeared to inadvertently prevent a certain goal from Curtis Jones in the second half, before being substituted shortly after the hour mark.
Despite last summer’s record-breaking spend of close to £450 million, Liverpool once again find themselves with major surgery to do to address the glaring gaps in their squad and assemble a creative unit capable of unpicking increasingly stringent Premier League defences. The return of midfielder Florian Wirtz — currently sidelined with a back problem — cannot come soon enough.
Still, Slot’s side should have had more than enough firepower to steer them past a team that, before Tuesday night, had won only two league games all season. Their desire to push for a winner — not for the first time this term — left them vulnerable in defence and opened the door for Andre to try his luck from the edge of the penalty area.
It was a gamble that paid off for the Brazilian, with his strike catapulting the home supporters into dreamland and sending manager Edwards sprinting down the touchline. That Liverpool’s ineptitude has incited such feverish celebrations on so many occasions this season is perhaps the most damning indictment of their topsy-turvy campaign.
“How do I sum this up?” Slot said in his post-match news conference. “Same old story. Recently we are picking up points because we score many times from set-pieces, but what didn’t change in the last five, six seven games is that we struggle and find it very hard to score from open play chances that we do create.
“Not as much as I would like from all the ball possession we have but enough and far more than the other team. But the end result is we scored one and they scored two and another one in injury time so it sums up our season again.”
It is a fair assessment from the Dutchman, but one that has been too often applicable this season.
Too many times this term Liverpool have encountered the “same old story.” They are fast running out of games to rewrite their campaign’s ending.
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The Miami (Ohio) RedHawks’ men’s basketball team continued their perfect start to the season on Tuesday night.
The No. 19 RedHawks defeated the Toledo Rockets, 74-72, improving to 30-0 and clinching at least a share of the Mid-American Conference regular-season title. Miami is the only undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball and has the best start and longest win streak in conference history.
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Miami (OH) guard Peter Suder, center, and the team celebrate the regular-season trophy at the conclusion of an NCAA college basketball game against Toledo, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Oxford, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
The team celebrated with the regular-season trophy as confetti fell onto the court in the arena.
“That’s the beauty of basketball: When you’re having fun with the right group of guys, you can become unbeatable,” Miami star Peter Suder told reporters, via the school’s website.
“It’s a surreal moment, obviously,” he added as he reflected on his family and the support he’s received through his collegiate career. “They’ve been with me through it all, and I’m just super-happy they were there tonight and soaked in the moment as well.”
Miami (OH) guard Luke Skaljac reacts after a made 3-point basket during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Toledo, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Oxford, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Suder had 19 points in the win and is averaging 14.8 points per game this season.
The RedHawks needed to dig deep to hang on against Toledo.
The Rockets cut the deficit to one on four different occasions. Toledo’s Austin Parks had a good opportunity to put the team ahead, but Miami’s Eian Elmer blocked him at the rim. Toledo trailed by two points and had the ball with 13 seconds left but a costly turnover sealed the win for Miami.
Miami completed its first season sweep of Toledo since the 1996-97 season and are now on a three-game winning streak against the Rockets after losing 22 straight from 2012-24.
Miami (OH) guard Peter Suder, center, raises the regular-season trophy with teammates at the conclusion of an NCAA college basketball game against Toledo, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Oxford, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
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The RedHawks will finish the regular season on the road against the Ohio Bobcats on Friday night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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