NEW ORLEANS — If Saquon Barkley is the Giant Who Used To Be, his close friend, Micah Parsons, is the Giant Who Never Was.
The Giants infamously passed on drafting Parsons in 2021, selecting to trade out of the No. 11 pick and permit the Penn State star to slide to the Cowboys.
The Giants wound up choosing bust Kadarius Toney at No. 20 and potential bust Evan Neal with the additional first-round pick gained from the Bears.
“I’ll always remember it,” Parsons told The Post on Thursday at Super Bowl 2025 radio row. “Truthfully, playing next to Dexter Lawrence, I’d probably have 60 profession sacks already. He’s a dawg.”
Considering Parsons already has 52.5 sacks in 4 seasons with the Cowboys, 60 isn’t a stretch.
However the respect from Parsons to the steadily double- and triple-teamed Lawrence across rivalry lines still holds — and serves as advice for Kayvon Thibodeaux.
“If I used to be Kayvon, I might line as much as Dexter Lawrence’s side each time, make your best move each time,” Parsons said. “You may have to be a 10-sack guy. I might line up next to Dexter because there is no such thing as a way they’ll put [just] two hands on Dexter Lawrence. You’re talking a couple of nose tackle having nine sacks in nine games. You may have to be serious.”
Parsons was promoting the EA Sports Madden Bowl, which pits two gaming expert finalists against one another with a $1 million prize purse Friday night at The Orpheum Theater.
Parsons plays loads of Madden himself, but it surely’s secure to say he doesn’t select the Giants as his team after the draft night debacle.
“The Giants lied to me,” Parsons later told CBS Sports. “People don’t know this: They told me that if I fell to No. 11, they were going to choose me. I swear. That’s why I punish the Giants each time. It’s personal with them.”
Parsons’ comments were a reversal of what he previously has said on not holding a draft-based grudge against the Giants.
League sources told The Post on the time that the Giants — led by general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge — and other teams had questions on Parsons’ off-field character coming out and the hope was that he already can be off the board by No. 11.
The Cowboys traded from No. 10 to No. 12 and still landed Parsons, who was a part of three straight 12-5 seasons before their step back in 2024 led to a change in coaches.
Former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer now calls the shots as an alternative of Mike McCarthy.
“I don’t think anything is a surprise,” Parsons said. “We are likely to hire more familiar faces. We just wish to play disciplined football. … At that time, you possibly can win lots of football games.”
While the Giants and Cowboys missed the playoffs, the NFC East’s Eagles and Commanders met within the NFC Championship Game.
“We are able to turn it around quickly,” Parsons said. “We beat playoff teams. Coulda, shoulda, woulda league, right? But we’re not a team that’s just a few rollovers. We’re a contending team even without half of our [injured] starters. We’ve got some players, and we’re going to go play.”
NEW ORLEANS — If Saquon Barkley is the Giant Who Used To Be, his close friend, Micah Parsons, is the Giant Who Never Was.
The Giants infamously passed on drafting Parsons in 2021, selecting to trade out of the No. 11 pick and permit the Penn State star to slide to the Cowboys.
The Giants wound up choosing bust Kadarius Toney at No. 20 and potential bust Evan Neal with the additional first-round pick gained from the Bears.
“I’ll always remember it,” Parsons told The Post on Thursday at Super Bowl 2025 radio row. “Truthfully, playing next to Dexter Lawrence, I’d probably have 60 profession sacks already. He’s a dawg.”
Considering Parsons already has 52.5 sacks in 4 seasons with the Cowboys, 60 isn’t a stretch.
However the respect from Parsons to the steadily double- and triple-teamed Lawrence across rivalry lines still holds — and serves as advice for Kayvon Thibodeaux.
“If I used to be Kayvon, I might line as much as Dexter Lawrence’s side each time, make your best move each time,” Parsons said. “You may have to be a 10-sack guy. I might line up next to Dexter because there is no such thing as a way they’ll put [just] two hands on Dexter Lawrence. You’re talking a couple of nose tackle having nine sacks in nine games. You may have to be serious.”
Parsons was promoting the EA Sports Madden Bowl, which pits two gaming expert finalists against one another with a $1 million prize purse Friday night at The Orpheum Theater.
Parsons plays loads of Madden himself, but it surely’s secure to say he doesn’t select the Giants as his team after the draft night debacle.
“The Giants lied to me,” Parsons later told CBS Sports. “People don’t know this: They told me that if I fell to No. 11, they were going to choose me. I swear. That’s why I punish the Giants each time. It’s personal with them.”
Parsons’ comments were a reversal of what he previously has said on not holding a draft-based grudge against the Giants.
League sources told The Post on the time that the Giants — led by general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge — and other teams had questions on Parsons’ off-field character coming out and the hope was that he already can be off the board by No. 11.
The Cowboys traded from No. 10 to No. 12 and still landed Parsons, who was a part of three straight 12-5 seasons before their step back in 2024 led to a change in coaches.
Former offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer now calls the shots as an alternative of Mike McCarthy.
“I don’t think anything is a surprise,” Parsons said. “We are likely to hire more familiar faces. We just wish to play disciplined football. … At that time, you possibly can win lots of football games.”
While the Giants and Cowboys missed the playoffs, the NFC East’s Eagles and Commanders met within the NFC Championship Game.
“We are able to turn it around quickly,” Parsons said. “We beat playoff teams. Coulda, shoulda, woulda league, right? But we’re not a team that’s just a few rollovers. We’re a contending team even without half of our [injured] starters. We’ve got some players, and we’re going to go play.”
