The Micah Parsons-Packers trade has an inevitable ripple effect on the Lions, Vikings, and Bears. So what does it mean for each team?
The Micah Parsons trade has a major impact on every team in the NFC North
The NFC North is arguably the NFL’s most competitive division and it became even more so when the Green Bay Packers traded for three-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler Micah Parsons.
The Packers were already playoff contenders before the Parsons trade and now said odds are even better with Parsons on board.
With that being said, how could it affect the rest of the NFC North? Our writers are here to answer that exact question.
The effect of the Micah Parsons trade on the rest of the NFC North
How can we start off with any other point of view than the Packers’ perception?
“Right after last season ended with a playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the thing that’s been on my mind as we’ve concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst recently said. “These opportunities don’t come [very often].”
This is the exact type of move that a franchise has to make when there is urgency to win a Super Bowl. The Packers have Jordan Love, several young players (it’s the youngest roster in football for the third consecutive season), and enough resources to absorb the hit of the significant investment. Losing Kenny Clark might hurt, but Micah Parsons is transformative enough to justify it. There is risk, but the risk of letting an opportunity like that go away would be much higher. – Wendell Ferreira, A to Z Green Bay
The Bears take notice, but they don’t need to take serious notice until the back end of the season
The immediate reaction in Chicago is an increased pressure on the left tackle position. While Micah Parsons usually attacks against the right tackle, the Packers will undoubtedly get creative with the team’s new star, and don’t forget about Rashan Gary on the opposite side of Parsons.
The good news is, the Bears won’t play the Packers until Week 14 and Week 16 this upcoming season, giving head coach Ben Johnson plenty of time to assess the left tackle position, whether it’s Braxton Jones or another player in that role. As for Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys, things look much better for Johnson’s offense going up against former head coach Matt Eberflus’ defense. – Kole Noble, A to Z Chicago
How the Detroit Lions view the move
There is no doubt that the Packers got better with addition of Micah Parsons, but it doesn’t really move the needle too much against the Lions since Parsons generally goes against the right tackle and Penei Sewell has handled him pretty well every time they’ve met.
The other thing is that the Lions run the ball a lot and while Parsons is a generational pass rusher, he’s a pretty pedestrian run stopper. Where the Lions could have been in trouble with this move was if the Packers would have kept Clark and Clark could have taken advantage of the attention Parsons brings. Now they’re relying on two first-year starters in the middle. – Mike Payton, A to Z Detroit
The Vikings are the one team that can handle this move
There’s no getting around the move. This has the potential to be as impactful a move as when they signed Reggie White in 1992.
When the Packers signed White, it was a major paradigm shift for the Packers and the NFL as a whole. White, paired with the emergence of Brett Favre, launched a chain of events that led to two Super Bowls and 30+ years of success. The trade for Parsons is reminiscent of that, as both players are the only ones in NFL history to have 12+ sacks and make the Pro Bowl in their first four seasons.
Where the Vikings have an advantage that others don’t is at offensive tackle. They don’t just have the best duo in the division in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, but it’s arguably a top two duo in the NFL. Neither Rashawn Gary nor Lukas Van Ness don’t strike fear into the hearts of the Vikings, nor should they. Parsons won’t be easy to stop, even with a top-tier duo. However, they are more equipped to slow him down than any other team in the division. – Tyler Forness, A to Z Minnesota
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