The race to win the NFC North took a massive turn on Thursday afternoon with the start of the regular season just one week away.
While the Chicago Bears did a masterful job of reshaping their roster this offseason to give first-year head coach Ben Johnson the weapons he needed, there is no way anyone could have anticipated the trade that one of their biggest rivals would make.
According to Ian Rapoport, the Green Bay Packers have agreed to trade three-time Pro Bowl DT Kenny Clark and two future first-round picks to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for All-Pro LB Micah Parsons. Parsons has also reportedly agreed to a long-term extension with Green Bay as the Packers have locked him up on a four-year, $188 million contract that includes $136 million in guaranteed money.
Full terms:
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 28, 2025
-- Cowboys get Kenny Clark and 2 1sts.
-- Packers get Micah Parsons. https://t.co/7ATclEMp5J
Bears’ Chances to Win NFC North Take Massive Hit After Parsons Trade
With the premier pass rusher in the NFL now calling Lambeau Field his NFL home, second-year quarterback Caleb Williams is only going to face more pressure in Chicago's two regular-season matchups with Green Bay. The first of which is scheduled for Week 14 when the Bears travel to Wisconsin for a showdown against the Packers.
After Williams was sacked 68 times during his rookie season, GM Ryan Poles added veterans Joe Thuney and Drew Dalman along the offensive line. Those additions will certainly help keep the Bears' franchise QB upright more than he was this past season, but even those vets will only be able to do so much to slow Parsons down. You don't just luck your way into 52.5 QB sacks over four seasons. Chicago's division rival has added one of the best players in football. Now the Bears must figure out how to deal with him.
With the Detroit Lions coming off a 15-2 season during the 2024 campaign, and the Minnesota Vikings finally having 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy healthy enough to take over as the team's QB1, the NFC North was already going to be the toughest division in football before the addition of Parsons. With the All-Pro now on Green Bay's roster for the foreseeable future, an already tough division to win just became an even more difficult task for Chicago to take on.
The relationship between Parsons and the Cowboys soured to the point where the star linebacker was publicly trashing the team on social media. While there was hesitation in thinking that Jerry Jones would actually trade the best player on his team, and one of the best in the entire league, for a defensive tackle coming off his worst season since his rookie year and a pair of future draft picks that will likely be in the bottom half of the first round is pretty unbelievable.
If the Packers wind up at the top of the NFC North at the end of the year, keeping Chicago short of its goals for the 2025 campaign, Bears fans know which failing NFL owner to criticize.