There are probably a few San Francisco 49ers fans out there (if they're old enough) who couldn't help but think of that infamous August 1992 trade of future Hall of Fame defensive end Charles Haley to the Dallas Cowboys when news broke of the August 2025 trade of future Hall of Fame linebacker Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
And, yet, here we are.
Granted, the Parsons deal to Green Bay on Aug. 28 didn't create a full-circle moment for the Niners where, somehow, the four-time Pro Bowler would be dealt to San Francisco -- believe us, we thought of it -- in a move that would finally absolve the 49ers for their sin of sending Haley to Dallas, thereby turning a chief NFC rival into a perennial Super Bowl threat.
It's also not as if the Cowboys were in the midst of a Super Bowl dynasty either, and trading Parsons doesn't exactly end this would-be "dynasty." That's a stark contrast to how the Niners, a perennial Super Bowl threat up to that point, traded away their best defensive player to a team that'd wind up knocking them out of the playoffs on a seemingly yearly basis immediately thereafter.
Those are painful memories for 49ers fans.
Still, the Parsons trade is one of note for Niners fans as they watch one rival's best player go to another rival, and it's fair to remind fans across the NFL how San Francisco has made a habit of eliminating both Dallas and Green Bay in the playoffs in recent years.
Of those two teams, however, it's fair to say the Cowboys remain the 49ers' No. 1 all-time rival, dating back to painful playoff memories from the 1970s and the early 1990s.
So, Niners fans having the opportunity to bathe in Cowboys fans' tears is never a bad thing, and that's certainly the case in the wake of such a blockbuster deal.
If it leads to Dallas regressing down the slope of NFL relevancy, that might end up being an added bonus, too. After all, San Francisco fans have precisely zero problem watching the Cowboys on the losing end of, well... anything.