The 2025 NFL season may be a long way off, but the excitement is already heating up. Significant drama is brewing at the Cowboys, involving a current player and a veteran who recently left the team. After nearly a decade of chasing the Super Bowl dream that never came true in Dallas, DeMarcus Lawrence bid adieu to America’s team by joining the Seattle Seahawks.
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More than the exit, Lawrence’s reason for leaving Jerry Jones’ team surprised many. “I know for sure I’m not going to win a Super Bowl there,” said the defensive end. That one sentence hit harder than any of his sacks, and Dallas’ very own Micah Parsons was having none of it. The Cowboys’ star linebacker instantly clapped back, calling Lawrence’s comments “some clown s**t.”
If Parsons thought that would silence Lawrence, he was mistaken. The veteran doubled down, firing back with a reality check.
“Calling me a clown won’t change the fact that I told the truth. Maybe if you spent less time tweeting and more time winning, I wouldn’t have left.”
As things stand, the NFL community is split on this topic. One half believes that DeMarcus Lawrence was in the right by calling out the Cowboys. But the other half is not happy with his remarks.
Interestingly, one voice stood out among the crowd—Bengals legend Chad Johnson, who wasted no time backing the former Dallas Cowboys star in the latest edition of Nightcap.
“I like it! I like it! I like it! Listen, they don’t really feel like that about each other, but you know how it is. You know, when somebody leaves and they go somewhere else, they understand, and they see how the culture is.”
Johnson has long been a critic of Jerry Jones’ management of the Cowboys. He believes that Lawrence’s statement could be a much-needed wake-up call for the octogenarian.
Secondly, Ocho argued that there was no one better equipped to make this statement than someone who has seen the Cowboys sell the same promise of ‘this is our year’ and crumble for a decade. “Mr. Lawrence, who’s been in Dallas for a very long time, understands why they haven’t won one—as opposed to how the fans see why they haven’t won one.”
He added: “He understands that Jerry’s bottom line isn’t really about winning but about making money… He actually has the ground to stand on when he says that. Now, he’s going somewhere else, and he can see how things are run.”
That said, Johnson understood why Micah Parsons shot back. “I understand Micah—Micah has to defend his team. You gotta defend your squad,” Ocho said.
However, not everyone was on board with Lawrence’s approach. Shannon Sharpe, for one, felt the veteran pass rusher should have played things differently.
“I’m surprised DeMarcus said what he said”: Shannon Sharpe
While Sharpe didn’t necessarily disagree with Lawrence’s assessment of Dallas, he felt that the way he expressed it was avoidable.
“For me, Ocho, you have to be careful when you go to another team, ’cause you know the emotion of it. And you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m so happy to be here. This team is so much better than the team I left.’ So you have to be careful with that because it’s easy to get caught up in it,” he explained.
In any case, Sharpe was simply in disbelief that the two NFL stars were airing their dirty laundry in public.
“I’m a little surprised—I’m surprised DeMarcus said what he said, I’m surprised Micah said what he said, and I’m really, really surprised DeMarcus responded.”
As Ocho pointed out, the fact that the Seattle Seahawks have won a Super Bowl (2014) more recently than the Dallas Cowboys (1996) is evidence enough that Lawrence might have a point. While it’s true that the 32-year-old could have handled the situation better, he is not entirely wrong.
The Cowboys have the brand, the talent, and the expectations, but they just can’t seem to achieve the dream when it comes to winning it all. As for Lawrence, he’s made his stance clear: he didn’t just leave for a new team—he left to chase a ring. And for Chad Johnson, that’s a move worth respecting.
