As one of the NFL’s most popular and most consistently competitive teams, the Packers need little in the way of additional exposure. The high-profile acquisition of star defensive end Micah Parsons from the Cowboys provides it anyway.

Green Bay is now surging in Super Bowl LX betting odds after trading for the two-time All-Pro, and with three nationally televised games in the first four weeks of the 2025 season, the team is once again at the center of NFL conversation. 

Before the trade, in which the Packers gave up two first-round draft picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark to acquire Parsons, the team was tied for ninth among NFL teams in Super Bowl betting odds with an implied probability of 5.6% to win the championship. Green Bay is now tied for fifth with the Lions—trailing just the Ravens, Bills, defending-champion Eagles, and Chiefs—with a new implied probability of nearly 8% on the heels of the Parsons trade. 

Viewers around the country, meanwhile, will get a hefty dose of the Packers on their televisions to see Parsons in his new home, particularly in the season’s first month. The season-opening clash at home against the rival Lions will be the national, late-afternoon game on CBS. Green Bay then kicks off Amazon’s Thursday Night Football 2025 schedule on Sept. 11 against the upstart Commanders, again at home. Then, in Week 4, the Packers travel to Dallas for a Sunday Night Football primetime matchup on NBC against those same Cowboys.

Each is expected to deliver massive audience numbers, now burnished further by the interest around Parsons. 

Green Bay will have at least two other primetime games, depending on NFL flex scheduling, including a significant Monday Night Football clash on ESPN in November against the Eagles.

A Time of Transition

The Parsons trade also coincides with the beginning of the Ed Policy era in Green Bay. The executive took over day-to-day leadership of the publicly owned Packers last month, rising to president and CEO and succeeding Mark Murphy, who reached a mandatory retirement age of 70. 

The Packers, generally known as a draft-and-develop team before this trade, also recently reported a team-record $719 million in revenue for their most recent fiscal year. There is no let-up expected as future projections remain strong at both the local and national levels. 

The Parsons trade, however, still arrived with some disbelief. At a function on Thursday to induct Murphy into the Packers Hall of Fame, the former executive was shocked by the breaking news of the trade. 

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Murphy said when initially informed of the transaction.

Following Thursday’s blockbuster trade, the Packers are set to give Micah Parsons a four-year, $188 million deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $47 million that’s the largest for any non-quarterback. The 26-year-old surpassed the $41 million per year deal (three years, $123 million) that T.J. Watt signed with the Steelers in July.

Parsons will make $120 million in guaranteed money, also tops among non-QBs, and eighth in the NFL when including quarterbacks, according to data from Spotrac.

While the Parsons deal is massive, Dallas could’ve very likely kept its star defensive player on a more affordable contract if timed properly. Parsons was eligible for an extension last offseason, though Dallas prioritized Dak Prescott (four years, $240 million) and CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million). Prescott is still the highest-paid player in the league by AAV, while Lamb became the second-highest-paid non-QB at the time. 

Parsons said late last year that he was willing to sign for less than $40 million per year, though that was before the market was reset by Myles Garrett, who the Browns signed in March for $40 million annually (four years, $160 million). Jones reportedly offered Parsons $40.5 million per year that same month—which would have exceeded Garrett’s amount. 

The market reset again last month after Watt signed with the Steelers, before the new Parsons contract reshaped it dramatically.

“Make no mistake about it: We all know we could’ve signed Micah. But we decided to go with the trade,” Jones said.

Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber is making a late and historic run at the National League Most Valuable Player award, and he could reshape MLB’s upcoming free-agent market in the process.

Schwarber became just the 21st player in league history with a four-homer game, delivering the quartet of “Schwarbombs” in a 19–4 rout of the Braves on Thursday night in Philadelphia. Much more than one breakout game, though, Schwarber is resetting an MVP race previously thought to be a foregone conclusion for Shohei Ohtani. 

The Dodgers superstar remains the betting favorite to win for the second consecutive year, and for a third straight when including his American League award in 2023 with the Angels. Schwarber, however, is closing in on Ohtani, particularly as he has claimed the NL lead in both homers (49) and runs batted in (119), and he’s just one homer behind Mariners catcher and AL MVP contender Cal Raleigh for the major league lead. 

Schwarber has hit career highs in a series of offensive categories, with a month remaining in the regular season, as “MVP” chants have begun to ring out at Citizens Bank Park. Those measures also follow Schwarber’s heroics at last month’s All-Star Game, where he dominated the first home run swing-off to lead the NL to victory. 

“That guy’s awesome. I don’t know what else to say,” said Phillies teammate Aaron Nola. “The guy’s having a year for the ages.”

Market Dynamics

The 32-year-old Schwarber, meanwhile, is set to become a free agent after this season. He previously trailed Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker in rankings of available talent—largely because of his age, as Schwarber will turn 33 in March. His exploits and Tucker’s recent struggles, however, could alter those expectations, at least somewhat, as he has amassed a particularly strong walk season to culminate his four-year, $79 million deal with the Phillies.

Schwarber has said he would like to stay in Philadelphia, if possible. Wherever he goes, though, a deal in excess of $100 million is nearly certain. The Dodgers’ three-year, $66 million pact signed last offseason with 32-year-old Teoscar Hernández, a very good player but not at Schwarber’s level, provides a starting point for what teams might offer. Former Marlins GM David Samson said on his podcast earlier this month that Schwarber could ask for a $300 million deal.

Ohtani was the last player to hit free agency as an MVP, garnering a then-record $700 million deal with the Dodgers. He was just the fifth player in MLB history to win MVP in the same year he became a free agent, but Schwarber could become the sixth. 

“It’s looking at back when I signed here in 2022, and seeing where you’re at now,” Schwarber recently told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “The accumulation of work. The things that have made me better. You think about your kids. You sign here, and have your first kid, and then you have two, and your third one on the way. A lot of [those life events] have happened here.”