Micah Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday evening for two first-round picks and veteran defensive tackle Kenny Clark, which was peanuts for the Packers.
The Falcons could've easily matched that price to not only land one of the game's best players, but also one who could quickly turn their promising rookie, Jalen Walker, into a superstar.
This was a massive miss by Terry Fontenot and the rest of the front office.
Micah Parsons would've turned Jalon Walker into an instant superstar
I talked about it a bit last night, but if Jerry Jones was asking for a veteran defensive tackle who is on the last leg of his career, he should've called the Atlanta Falcons about David Onyemata.
The issue for the Falcons is that they couldn't offer the Cowboys a 2026 first-round pick because they traded when they traded up for James Pearce Jr.
But, back to the point of this article, Jalon Walker is a carbon copy of Micah Parsons, and there is no better player to match with the rookie as he tries to transition to being a full-time edge rusher in the NFL.
Both guys entered the league as versatile linebackers who split time at off-ball and on-ball linebacker.
While Parsons was able to make a remarkable transition to full-time edge rusher in the NFL, he was atypical.
Early on, the hype around the Falcons' draft class has been on James Pearce Jr., which isn't particularly surprising.
Fans who had realistic expectations knew Walker could take awhile to reach his full potential.
However, the transition could've been expedited with Parsons in his ear.
Overall, it was disappointing to see Terry Fontenot pass on this trade, even if it would've required handing Parsons a million Brink's trucks.