3 Bengals winners and 1 loser after blockbuster Micah Parsons trade

Deals that happen between two NFC teams don’t directly affect the Cincinnati Bengals, but repercussions travel all the way to the banks of the Queen City. If for nothing else, they can add context to an offseason for our hometown team. 

In case you haven’t heard, the Dallas Cowboys traded star defender Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers yesterday. And some consequences reverberate across the league, including in Cincinnati. 

Here are three winners and one loser from a Bengals perspective after the Dallas Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.

Winner: Bengals fans 

Now, Bengals fans can troll the Cowboys for being cheap after a nightmarish offseason of hypocritical storylines. As soon as the 2024 season ended, everyone told us that the front office is too cheap to sign Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase to contract extensions. Duke Tobin calmly said to himself, "Hold my beer."

Then, the narrative changed to why Cincinnati was wrong with how they were handling first-round pick Shemar Stewart’s contract situation. Later, we learned that the Bengals were doing what everyone told them they should, which was to start doing business like the rest of the league. It turns out that when the Bengals were catching up to the times.

Additionally, we found that Stewart may want to follow Zay Flowers' example and reassess his relationship with the agent before negotiating his second NFL contract. 

Finally, despite signing Trey Hendrickson to an extension during a pass-rush salary boom, talking heads did not miss an opportunity to call the team cheap, and Cincinnati should either trade him or give him the world, like Aladdin. All of the negative storylines unfolded while the Cowboys and Parsons went largely under the radar. And when experts discussed the impending contract dispute in Dallas, the overwhelming consensus was that Jerry Jones would pay, so let’s move on. 

Who is the cheap organization now? 

Winner: Bengals Front Office 

Before the Parsons contract extension that came with the trade, the amendment to Trey Hendrickson’s deal put him in the top five of pass-rushers’ annual pay per year. Now he moves down a peg, making his $30 million for the NFL’s reigning sack leader look even better. 

With the Bengals finagling a pay raise that does not include a non-franchise tag stipulation, Hendrickson's reported $34.8 million expected tag number also immediately becomes a bargain. 

If the team had waited another 36 hours, they would either have increased their offer or not have secured a deal at all. Furthermore, over the last two seasons, Hendrickson was a better player. Parsons recorded 26 sacks and 30 tackles for loss in that time frame. For his part, Hendrickson notched 35 sacks, 35 tackles for loss, and led the league in sacks last season. 

Furthermore, Hendrickson led the league in pressures with 54. Parsons was third with 46.

Winner: Trey Hendrickson 

Even though his $30 million for this season is nowhere near Parsons’ $47 million per year average, the cost of the franchise tag just went up. Parsons’ salary just increased the average top five salaries at the defensive end position. So, while we thought it would be $34.8 million, the tag number will now be bigger.

We expect the franchise tag to cost the Bengals approximately $39.8 million in 2026, if they decide to exercise it, due to the top five salaries at the defensive end position increasing, thanks to the contract the Packers gave Parsons. 

The average of those top five salaries now exceeds Hendrickson’s contract plus 120% which would have been the cost next offseason. 

If the Bengals decide to go that route at the end of the season, it will cost them more than what they thought 48 hours ago. If/when they franchise their star edge rusher, Hendrickson will have turned a contract dispute into a two-year, nearly $70 million fully guaranteed deal, with an average annual value of around $ 35 million. That would get him to the Maxx Crosby-type numbers that he wanted.

You might not think that Cincinnati’s front office would franchise him at that number, but they’ve surprised us, and the football world, all offseason. With the salary cap continuing to increase, a tag in 2026 could be a fantastic deal for both sides. 

If the Bengals don’t want to exercise the franchise tag, Hendrickson will become a free agent. There would likely be a bidding war for his services on a two or three-year deal, which would push his annual salary closer to $40 million, more than Maxx Crosby’s new deal. 

Furthermore, after signing the richest contract for a non-quarterback, Parsons serves as a measuring stick for Hendrickson and the rest of the league’s best pass rushers. Every player wants to be the best. Now, the Packers are paying Parsons as if he were the best.

But if Hendrickson performs better than Parsons for a third consecutive year, it will cement his place as the league’s premier edge rusher, thereby increasing his worth even more. 

Loser: Week 6 aspirations

Facing the Packers in Week 6 was already going to be a challenge. Now that Green Bay added Parsons, that matchup is immediately more tenuous than before. Luckily for the Burrow, his offensive line has reinforcements in the form of the Dalton Risner signing, which hopefully indicates that Lucas Patrick will take on a backup role in the near future. 

Nevertheless, the last time Cincinnati lined up against Parsons was on December 9, 2024. In that matchup, Burrow torched the Cowboys, completing 75% of his passes and throwing for 369 yards and three touchdowns. 

Meanwhile, Parsons recorded two QB hits. That’s all. Nothing more. Just two hits on the quarterback. 

However, that does not detract from Parsons' talent. And by the time Week 6 rolls around, he will be hitting his stride with the Packers, so the offense must plan accordingly to have similar success against him.

With that said, hopefully by Week 6, Cincinnati’s offensive line will have gelled and improved to the point that we can honestly say that this is the best protection that Burrow has had in his career. 

The Bengals presented themselves as a first-class organization that paid its stars this year, despite outside noise suggesting otherwise. Hendrickson gets a significant pay raise by doing nothing else but showing up this offseason while setting himself up for an even bigger payday next year. 

The NFL vultures must now descend upon Dallas and see how cheap the Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, is. 

And, even listing the Week 6 aspirations as a “loser” is mitigated by the most recent results when considering what happened the last time Cincinnati faced Parsons. 

While the trade of Parsons to the Packers will not directly impact the Bengals until October, and possibly the Super Bowl, it does help to frame Cincinnati’s offseason in a more positive light. 

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