Micah Parsons left Dallas in August last year after a contract dispute that ended with him in a Packers uniform. Thursday night, as the 2026 NFL Draft played out in Pittsburgh, he found a reason to reach back. The Cowboys had just taken his replacement.
Barely eight months after the trade, Parsons was on social media when Dallas selected Ohio State safety Caleb Downs 11th overall. He posted a message for the incoming rookie.
“They’re not drafting you to be a player. They’re drafting you to be the player that you already are. To come in that system and dominate. You’re here to start and be the guy. You are the guy. Like I said earlier in the draft, you don’t wish upon a star. You land on it.” Parsons said.
When Parsons left Dallas, he told reporters the city had been a second home and that he never wanted his chapter there to end.
The Cowboys traded him for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark after a prolonged contract standoff. The divorce was not so clean.
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A man who once said he wanted to be a Cowboy for life, shown the door in a contentious split, publicly vouching for the player brought in to rebuild what he left behind. And he meant every word of it.
Downs was the top safety in this class. He won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2025, helped Ohio State win a national championship in 2024, and made two-time All-American.
“You’re here to start and be the guy. You ARE the guy.”
Micah kept it real with Caleb Downs about repping The Star 💯 pic.twitter.com/FxuVm9bTpV
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) April 24, 2026
Dallas moved up one spot, sending two fifth-round picks to Miami to land him at No. 11.
The Cowboys’ defense ranked last in the NFL in points allowed last season. Downs is the first real piece of the new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, who was hired recently.
Parsons saying Downs is the guy sets a bar before Downs takes his first NFL rep. Downs now has to live up to what Parsons was.