Micah Parsons said the Green Bay Packers have "won the draft already" before even making a pick. He's right, and the Dallas Cowboys proved why on Thursday night.
Green Bay sent its first-rounder to Dallas as part of the Parsons trade package. The Cowboys used that pick, originally No. 20 overall, to trade down three spots and select Central Florida pass-rusher Malachi Lawrence.
Lawrence is a talented player and can make an impact in Dallas, but two things stood out: 1. It felt a little early for Lawrence, and more importantly, 2. He's not Micah Parsons.
Cowboys used the Packers' Micah Parsons pick to replace Micah Parsons
The consensus board had Lawrence at 37th, an early second-rounder, while he didn't even crack the top 50 of FanSided's big board.
Again, Lawrence can become a quality starter for the Cowboys, but he isn't the game-wrecker that Parsons is. Green Bay traded two first-rounders and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to Dallas for Parsons, a deal that looks better by the day. Clark was never going to stick around in Green Bay beyond last season due to his contract, and now the Cowboys have used one of those picks on a Parsons replacement.
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said it best in his post-Round 1 press conference.
"Looking back and doing what we did, I certainly don't think there's any player in this draft that can compete with that one," Gutekunst said, via Zach Jacobson of Packer Report.
He's not wrong. This draft class lacks the same quantity of true first-round talents as we often see, which already makes the Parsons trade look like a big win for the Packers.
As Gutekunst put it, the Packers simply "got better a whole year earlier."
And they did. Parsons contributed 12.5 sacks in 12 games before suffering a torn ACL, and, considering how poorly the rest of the pass rush played, it's fair to wonder how far the Packers would've actually gone without him. They lost every game after his injury.
The Packers must get to work on Friday night. They currently hold two selections, at Nos. 52 and 84 overall, with needs at cornerback and defensive tackle, and they also need to find a complementary pass-rusher to play alongside Parsons.
Several teams hope they found their No. 1 edge-rusher in the opening round. That list includes the Cowboys. Fortunately for the Packers, they already have theirs.
The Parsons trade continues to age brilliantly for the Packers, and the Cowboys' reach for his replacement only further proves it.
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