It’s been a whirlwind week for new Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl outside linebacker Rashan Gary.
Gary was still a member of the Green Bay Packers on March 6, his football home of seven seasons after being selected 12th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, when the craziness began. He appeared to have posted a goodbye letter graphic to Green Bay and Packers fans on social media, but he was actually hacked. On Tuesday, the Green Bay goodbye became Gary’s reality with the Packers trading him to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick.
“Yeah, just the whole experience, it was crazy,” Gary said on a conference call on Thursday. “I’m the type of guy that I pride myself on just going to work and keeping my head down, but everybody has social media in the offseason. You don’t find yourself looking for it, but just things [rumors of his Packers departure] pop up. Just the guy that I am to keep my head down, not believing in it.”
What he began to hear after being hacked started to turn the tide in his mind to believe there was a legitimate chance he would be dealt before being traded ended up becoming Gary’s reality.
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“Then, that weird thing happened. Got hacked. It kind of made the rumors that people were saying come to light,” Gary said. “Deep down inside, I’m still talking to my teammates, still talking to my coaches, about next season and still believing that I’m playing for the Packers. “All of a sudden I get a call from my agent, and he said a deal was done. … This is a great opportunity that I have in front of me, and I just can’t wait to go to work. … I’m just bringing a dog man. I’m coming in to be myself, lead by example and help the best way I can.”
Maxx Crosby speculation
Gary being hacked didn’t end up being the craziest thing connected to him for long. Once five-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Maxx Crosby’s trade to the Baltimore Ravens in exchange for two first-round picks fell through prior to the start of the new league year because of medical concerns there was some speculation Dallas could jump back into the Crosby market. However, it didn’t seem feasible for the Cowboys to be able to roster both Gary and Crosby and remain salary cap compliant. Once Gary passed his physical with Dallas, it was official that Gary would be a Cowboy and Crosby would remain the fanbase’s pipe dream.
“To be honest, I didn’t hear nothing about it. I was on my visit handling the things I had to handle. I ended up passing my physical and then end up hearing about what was going on [with Crosby]. The league is crazy man,” Gary said. “It’s a business, and you never really know what’s going on. He’s a hell of a player, and I know regardless of the situation that he’s put in and wherever he may be, he’s going to do his thing.”
Trading places with Micah Parsons
Instead of potentially being sent back to Green Bay thanks to Crosby, Gary ended up actually trading places with All-Pro teammate Micah Parsons. Parsons became a Packers teammate of Gary’s a week before the 2025 NFL season began when Dallas sent Parsons up north to Green Bay in exchange for two first-round picks and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Now, Gary occupies Parsons’ old role in Dallas as the most established edge rusher on the Cowboys defense. The two have texted but haven’t had a chance to really chat over the past week.
“Everything has been going crazy the past week, the past few days. He was able to reach out to me, and I was able to text him back, but I have yet to be able to really have a conversation with him,” Gary said. “At the end of the day, it’s a business, so I don’t look at it as trading places or things like that. I’m just coming here to be me and be the impact that the Cowboys need.”
Gary’s focus is now turned toward doing something in Dallas that he was accustomed to in Dallas: winning games and playing postseason football. The Packers earned playoff berths in six of his seven seasons in Green Bay including a stretch of three consecutive 13-win seasons from 2019 to 2021 — the only such streak in NFL history.
“The main thing for me is to come in, play good ball and play good ball to the point that we’re playing meaningful games,” Gary said. “Then, playing for some trophies and playing for some hats and T-shirts [things that come with winning the division, NFC and the Super Bowl]. That’s my goal.”
Gary’s Green Bay reunion in Dallas
Despite joining a new team for the first time in his eighth NFL season, Gary will be welcomed to a new locker room by three familiar faces from his Packers days: defensive tackle Kenny Clark, new Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker and pass rush consultant Brandon “BT” Jordan. Once the deal to come to Dallas was completed, Gary immediately called Clark to let him know it’s “an honor and a privilege” to suit up alongside him once again.
“KC is my dog. I’ve been in Green Bay seven years, and I’ve been with KC all seven [at least through training camp], so he watched me mature as a man, mature as a player and he also gave me key pointers on the way up,” Gary said. “He always told me to stay focused on the process. One thing I love about KC is he’s a guy that loves ball. … So just being able to join back with a player like that… I can’t wait to go out there and do it because it’s going to get infectious throughout the defense and the defensive line.”
Gary only spent two seasons with Parker in Green Bay when the latter was a defensive quality control coach for the Packers from 2019 to 2020. Parker then went on to be the Denver Broncos‘ defensive backs coach from 2021 to 2023 and then the Philadelphia Eagles passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach from 2024 to 2025.
“Short time with CP in Green Bay. I was the first draft class [he had], so just having him see me come in as a young player and him going and getting more experience as coach to me going into my eighth year and being a proven, elite player in this league, it’s kind of a full circle moment,” Gary said.
Parker told Gary he’ll have him lined up as an outside linebacker in his 3-4 defense with 4-3 spacing that will have multiple front looks along the defensive line.
“When you talk to CP, he knows ball. Coverages, fronts, the in and outs, understanding the weaknesses of offenses, understanding where to put players to succeed,” Gary said. … “He’s hungry. He wants it.”
Getting himself and Dallas’ defense back on track
What Parker, head coach Brian Schottenheimer, Jerry and Stephen Jones and Cowboys fans will all be looking for from Gary is sacks. Without Parsons in 2025, Dallas racked up just 35 sacks as a team, which ranked as tied for the seventh-fewest in the league for what ended up as the NFL’s worst scoring defense. The Cowboys’ 30.1 points per game allowed last season was the second-most in a season in Dallas’ 66-season history, and only the inaugural 1960 team surrendered a higher points per game allowed average at 30.8.
After teaming up with Parsons in Green Bay last season, Gary raced out to a torrid start with 7.5 sacks in the first eight weeks of the season, which ranked as the fifth-most in the entire NFL in that span. However, he didn’t record a single sack the rest of the 2025 campaign from Week 9 through the Packers’ opening round playoff loss at the Chicago Bears. That’s not something Gary is worried about affecting him in 2026 with the Cowboys as he and Parker hope to affect change into Dallas’ deflated defense.
“Just understanding the player that I am and just understanding through the I guess six or seven games [without a sack] as you said, football is football,” Gary said. “At that time, we were playing meaningful games, so when you’re really playing meaningful games man, it really doesn’t come down to stats. It’s really about how you affect offenses and things like that. So just being able to lock in, being able to be effective and playing how I need to play and being the player that I am, the plays are going to come my way.”
