The shocking decision by the Dallas Cowboys to trade Micah Parsons to Green Bay after four dominant seasons as a pass rusher is far from unprecedented.
A very similar trade happened on the eve of the 2018 season when the Oakland Raiders shipped two-time All-Pro and one-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Khalil Mack to Chicago.
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FILE - Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, right, intercepts a pass intended for Oakland Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Nov. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss (84) jumps into the crowd to celebrate his 42-yard touchdown pass from Daunte Culpepper during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Minneapolis, Oct. 9, 2000. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia, File)
FILE - Dallas Cowboys' coach Jimmy Johnson, right confers with defensive end Charles Haley in the first half of their NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, Jan. 23, 1994, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Linda Kaye, File)
FILE - Chicago Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack (52) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Oct. 3, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, File)
Both trades happened after failed contract talks and featured two first-round picks in return, although Dallas also got defensive tackle Kenny Clark from the Packers.
That 2018 trade didn't ultimately work out for either team. Mack was highly productive in Chicago, earning All-Pro honors his first year, but couldn't do enough to help the Bears win a playoff game in his four seasons before being traded to the Chargers.
The Raiders used the first pick on running back Josh Jacobs, who was very productive before leaving as a free agent following the 2023 season. The second first-rounder was wasted on cornerback Damon Arnette, who was cut halfway through his second season.
Here's a look at some other NFL stars who were traded in their primes:
The most famous trade in Dallas history came in Jerry Jones' first season as owner in 1989 when the Cowboys dealt Herschel Walker to Minnesota for a package that ultimately led to eight draft picks, including three first-rounders. Dallas used those picks to help draft Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith and key contributors to three Super Bowl wins like Darren Woodson, Kevin Smith and Russell Maryland.
The Vikings didn't win a playoff game in two-plus seasons with Walker.
Jones has another famous deal that helped fuel Dallas' 1990s dynasty when he acquired the pass rusher from San Francisco for second- and third-round picks in 1992. Haley was the final piece on defense the Cowboys needed to win three Super Bowls in his first four seasons, eliminating the 49ers in the NFC title game on the way to the first two titles.
Moss was a three-time All-Pro and the most dominant deep threat in the league when Minnesota traded him to Oakland in 2005 for a package that included the No. 7 overall pick in the draft. The deal helped neither team as the Vikings used the pick on Troy Williamson, who caught 79 passes in three seasons, and the Raiders won six games in two seasons.
Moss was then traded again in 2007 to New England and set an NFL record with 23 TD catches his first season as the Patriots became the only team to go 16-0 in the regular season.
Six years after being traded by Minnesota to the New York Giants, Tarkenton returned to the Vikings in 1972 after making four Pro Bowls in six seasons in New York. Tarkenton led Minnesota to the Super Bowl three times in seven seasons in his second stint — losing every time — and was the NFL MVP in 1975.
The disgruntled Dickerson was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to Indianapolis in 1987 in a blockbuster deal that also sent Cornelius Bennett to Buffalo. Dickerson helped the Colts make the playoffs for the first time in 10 years in his first season and then led the NFL in rushing in 1988.
Faulk led the NFL with 2,227 yards from scrimmage in 1998 when Indianapolis made the surprising decision to deal him to St. Louis. The Colts went on to draft Hall of Famer Edgerrin James in the first round as Faulk's replacement but the Rams really won the deal.
Faulk helped form the “Greatest Show on Turf” offense as St. Louis won the Super Bowl his first season. Faulk had nearly 1,500 more yards from scrimmage and 18 more TDs than any other player from 1999-2001 as he won AP Offensive Player of the Year all three seasons and MVP in 2000.
McCaffrey helped transform San Francisco's offense when he was acquired from Carolina during the 2022 season for a package of four picks. McCaffrey gained 3,233 yards and scored 31 TDs in his first 27 regular-season games for the Niners before being hampered by injuries last season.
He won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 when he helped San Francisco reach the Super Bowl.
Dean was coming off an All-Pro season in 1980 when he was traded the following year to San Francisco for a package that included a first-round pick. His addition helped fuel the start of the 49ers dynasty. He was an All-Pro in 1981 when San Francisco won its first of five titles in a 14-season span and had a 17 1/2-sack season in 1983 before ending up in the Hall of Fame.
Revis was the NFL's top shut-down cornerback when he was traded to Tampa Bay for a package that included a first-round pick before the 2013 season. The Jets turned that pick into Sheldon Richardson and Revis spent only one season with the Bucs, before being cut. He then went to New England as a free agent where he won a Super Bowl.
In one of the biggest star for star trades, Denver acquired Bailey from Washington for star running back Clinton Portis. Portis had four 1,000-yard rushing seasons with Washington but the Broncos were the biggest winner.
Bailey played 10 more seasons, earning All-Pro honors his first three seasons, leading the league with 10 interceptions in 2006 and getting into the Hall of Fame.
Warfield had made back-to-back Pro Bowls for Cleveland when Don Shula acquired him in his first season as Miami's head coach. Warfield provided a needed deep threat for the Dolphins, making the Pro Bowl in five straight seasons. Warfield was an All-Pro twice and helped Miami win back-to-back Super Bowls, including the perfect 17-0 season in 1972.
Haynes was holding out in New England in 1983 when the Raiders acquired him for a first- and second-round pick during the season. Haynes made an immediate impact by elevating the Raiders defense as he teamed with Lester Hayes in the secondary. Los Angeles won the Super Bowl later that season and Haynes was named All-Pro the next two years.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, right, intercepts a pass intended for Oakland Raiders wide receiver Denarius Moore in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Oakland, Calif., Nov. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss (84) jumps into the crowd to celebrate his 42-yard touchdown pass from Daunte Culpepper during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in Minneapolis, Oct. 9, 2000. (AP Photo/Paul Battaglia, File)
FILE - Dallas Cowboys' coach Jimmy Johnson, right confers with defensive end Charles Haley in the first half of their NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, Jan. 23, 1994, in Irving, Texas. (AP Photo/Linda Kaye, File)
FILE - Chicago Bears outside linebacker Khalil Mack (52) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Oct. 3, 2021, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski, File)
The U.N. Security Council in an emergency meeting Thursday discussed Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic Republic.
Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in the lead up to the meeting in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said before the meeting, “All options remain on the table for the president.”
Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The sound of gunfire faded Thursday in the capital, Tehran. The country closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
Here is the latest:
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Moscow stands in solidary with Iran and backs its view that “hostile external forcers are attempting to exploit the current situation in order to overthrow a government they find objectionable and destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran as a sovereign and independent state.”
Russia called on the U.S. “to stop making themselves out to be a global judge and put an end to their escalatory actions,” he said. Moscow also called on the U.N.’s 193 member nations “to prevent a new large-scale escalation.”
Nebenzia said U.S. actions “risk plunging the region into even bloodier chaos — chaos that could easily spill beyond its borders.”
He said what happened on Iranian streets in recent days went far beyond peaceful protests, pointing to the use of firearms, the killing of civilians and law enforcement officers and arson attacks on medical facilities and public institutions.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by the United States that “The people of Iran are demanding their freedom like never before in the Islamic Republic’s brutal history.”
He said the U.S. message is clear: “President Donald J. Trump and the United States of America stand by the brave people of Iran.”
“President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations,” Waltz said. “He has made it clear, all options are on the table to stop the slaughter, and no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime.”
Waltz dismissed Iranian allegations that the protests are “a foreign plot” and precursor to military action saying: “Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets.”
“They are afraid,” he said. “They are afraid of their own people.”
Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the Islamic Republic is behaving like the Islamic State militant group, “and deserves to be treated like" the group.
She said: “That is how you save innocent lives.”
She warned that “brutal slaughter” in Iran will get much worse if the world doesn’t take “serious action.”
Alinejad said all Iranians are united in seeking freedom and in the face of Iranian military weapons they want action, not “empty words and empty condemnations.”
The U.N. warns possible military strikes on Iran would add “volatility to an already combustible situation” in an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Thursday.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres “urges maximum restraint at this sensitive moment and calls on all actors to refrain from any actions that could lead to further loss of life or ignite a wider regional escalation,” Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee said at the meeting.
Guterres urges maximum restraint and remains convinced that all issues regarding Iran, including its nuclear program, should be addressed through diplomacy and dialogue, she said.
The U.N. chief reaffirms the U.N. Charter’s principles that disputes must be settled peacefully and prohibit the threat or use of force, Pobee said.
Masih Alinejad, one of the most vocal Iranian dissidents in the U.S., accused the United Nations and the Security Council of failing “to respond with the urgency this moment demands” at the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday.
In October, two purported Russian mobsters were each sentenced to 25 years behind bars for hiring a hitman to kill Alinejad at her Brooklyn home on behalf of the Iranian government.
Sitting across the table from the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., Alinejad, who came after an invitation from the U.S., said that “the members of this body have forgotten the privilege and responsibility of sitting in this room.”
In a stunning moment, even for Security Council standards, Alinejad addressed the Islamic Republic’s representative seated at the council directly.
“You have tried to kill me three times. I have seen my would-be assassin with my own eyes in front of my garden, in my home in Brooklyn,” she said while the Iranian official looked directly ahead, without acknowledging her.
Ahead of the emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Secretary-General António Guterres
spoke by phone to discuss the recent deadly protests and Iran’s request for the world body to do more to condemn what they call foreign influence in the Islamic Republic, according to a readout of the call posted on Iranian state TV.
The semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi implored the top U.N. official to live up to the “serious expectation” that Iran’s government and its people have of the U.N.s’ role in condemning what the officials called “illegal U.S. interventions against Iran.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that U.S. President Donald Trump and his team had communicated to Iranian officials that there would be “grave consequences” if killing continues against protesters in Iran.
“The president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday, were halted,” she said.
But Trump continues closely watching the situation, she said.
“All options remain on the table for the president,” Leavitt said.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said on Thursday that “criminal gangs” were responsible for the situation in Iran, accusing them of carrying out an “American-Israeli” scheme.
“Criminal gangs in Iran killed Iranian citizens, security forces and burned mosques,” he said without providing evidence. “What’s being committed by criminal gangs in Iran is horrific, bearing an American stamp as it includes slaughter and burning some people alive.”
He also said that the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iran to create a crisis leading to the current issues in the country with the end goal of controlling Iran.
Yet he said the U.S. has “failed in Iran” and that Iranians “will not yield to America.”
The president of the European Union’s executive arm says the 27-member bloc is looking to strengthen sanctions against Iran as ordinary Iranians continue their protests against Iran’s theocratic government.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday following a meeting of the EU’s commissioners in Limassol, Cyprus that current sanctions against Iran are “weakening the regime.”
Von der Leyen said that the EU is looking to sanction individual Iranians —apart from those who belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard — who “are responsible for the atrocities.”
She added that the people of Iran who are “bravely fighting for a change” have the EU’s “full political support.”
Canada’s foreign minister says a Canadian citizen has died in Iran “at the hands of the Iranian authorities.”
“Peaceful protests by the Iranian people — asking that their voices be heard in the face of the Iranian regime’s repression and ongoing human rights violations — has led the regime to flagrantly disregard human life,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media Thursday.
“This violence must end. Canada condemns and calls for an immediate end to the Iranian regime’s violence,” she added.
Anand said consular officials are in contact with the victim’s family in Canada. She did not provide details.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Thursday that a local staff member was killed and several others were wounded during the deadly protests in Iran over the weekend.
Amir Ali Latifi, an Iranian Red Crescent Society worker, was working in the country’s Gillan province on Jan. 10 when he was killed “in the line of duty,” the organization said in a statement.
“The IFRC is deeply concerned about the consequences of the ongoing unrest on the people of Iran and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Iranian Red Crescent Society,” the statement continued.
U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “good news” reports that the death sentence has been lifted for an Iranian shopkeeper arrested in a violent crackdown on protests.
Relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani had said he faced imminent execution.
Trump posed Thursday on his Truth Social site: “FoxNews: ‘Iranian protester will no longer be sentenced to death after President Trump’s warnings. Likewise others.’ This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue!”
Iranian state media denied Soltani had been condemned to death. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
Trump sent tensions soaring this week by pledging that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters and urging them to continue demonstrating against authorities in the Islamic Republic.
On Wednesday Trump signaled a possible de-escalation, saying he had been told that “the killing in Iran is stopping.”
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members were “gravely concerned” by the developments surrounding the protests, and that they “strongly oppose the intensification of the Iranian authorities’ brutal repression of the Iranian people.”
The statement, published on the EU’s website Thursday, said the G7 were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and condemned “the deliberate use of violence” by Iranian security forces against protesters.
The G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent in violation of international human rights obligations,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.
“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.
“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”
“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”
Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.
Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.
Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.
Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.
Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,
Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.
“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.
Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.
Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.
The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.
Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.
State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.
Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.
Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
