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Micah Parsons strolled to the podium at Lambeau Field in a sweater with green and gold lines and a yellow beanie.

“I had this for a while,” Parsons said. “I don’t buy clothes no more, so it’s kind of like Adidas or whatever’s in the closet.”

Parsons wanted deep down for Dallas to be his home, but he dressed to fit in at his new one.

Here are five things we learned from Parsons’ first meeting with the media in Green Bay.

Ready for Week 1?

Parsons hasn’t practiced yet this preseason as he held out in Dallas, and the Green Bay Packers host the Detroit Lions next Sunday. Parsons was also dealing with a back injury, which seems to have magically healed, as he said Friday, “Physically, I’m great.” But what are reasonable expectations for Parsons’ participation in Green Bay’s season opener?

“I think I can contribute a lot,” Parsons said. “I’m going to team up with the doctors in creating a plan. We already talked about how we can ramp things up and get me into a flow where they feel comfortable and I feel comfortable. … They didn’t give up what they gave up for me to sit on the sidelines and make this big of a risk and change for me to do that, so I’m going to give them my all.”

Parsons said he’ll meet with defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley when he returns to Green Bay on Sunday to map out what the next six days before game day look like.

“He says he’s got a lot planned for me,” Parsons said. “I don’t know what the scheme looks like. I just got my iPad today. I’m going to look over it. I’m super excited. I know about his creativity. I’ve heard a lot. Obviously, I don’t watch their defense a lot, but I’m excited to learn. I’m excited to get better and be a dominant player for them.”

Coach Matt LaFleur approached the topic of Parsons’ Week 1 participation with slightly more caution.

“We’ve got to see where he’s at,” LaFleur said. “I don’t believe he’s practiced, so we’ve got to be very calculated with how we deploy him and just the number of snaps that he’s going to get. The first part of that is you’ve got to assess the situation, and in order to do that, you’ve got to have some sort of physical movement … it’s gonna be a lot of time spent together, I would say, and a lot of one-on-one time to try to get him up to speed as quickly as possible. But I think more than anything else, I’m confident that will happen quickly — we just gotta see where he’s at physically before we put him out there and he’s playing 70 snaps a game.”

Rasheed Walker’s role

Parsons is friends with Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker since they were in the same recruiting class at Penn State and played three years together for the Nittany Lions.

Before Parsons officially decided to join the Packers, he contacted Walker.

“That’s my guy,” Parsons said. “He’s like, ‘It’s like Penn State. It’s like home. It’s like a brotherhood. It’s safe. You focus on ball, and you keep everything the right thing.’ It kind of gave me comfort, and it kind of gave me a better decision, like, ‘OK, this is a place where I feel like I can take my next step and continue to have a great legacy here.’”

Parsons has been itching to play actual football, and Walker might feel the brunt of that pent-up energy being released next week.

“I told Rasheed, I said, ‘Bruh, just go ahead and get ready for your best practice week because I ain’t put my hands in somebody so long,’” Parsons said.

Matt LaFleur’s first impression

LaFleur said game planning for Parsons makes him lose sleep. He’s had to do it twice, once in the 2022 regular season and once in the 2023 playoffs. The Packers won both games.

But LaFleur’s first impression of Parsons came while coaching him in the 2021 Pro Bowl.

“The majority of the players in the Pro Bowl — I think it’s well known that’s why there’s not a Pro Bowl game anymore — the majority of the guys looked like they were going through the motions,” LaFleur said. “Except for one guy. And he was trying to wreck shop out there, and he was trying to win, and that’s one thing, just having relationships with other coaches throughout the league that have worked with him, they’ll tell ya. This guy’s the ultimate competitor, and whatever it is you’re playing, he’s gonna wanna win, and I don’t think he’s very apologetic about that, which is so exciting as a coach to get a guy like that, and I think that just elevates everybody around him.”

Parsons was asked about LaFleur’s recollection, and his answer might make Packers fans find the nearest brick wall to run through.

“You’ll realize as I’m here, I’m probably one of the most authentic people you’ll meet,” Parsons said. “I’m probably going to say things I probably shouldn’t say off emotion, and that’s just me. I’m going to do as I like because that’s just me. All I know is go, and if I feel like you can’t be around me because you’re not on go, too, we probably shouldn’t be friends or probably be in the same room, so I just don’t be around you.”

Big swing

General manager Brian Gutekunst has noted in the past, when discussing hypothetical trades such as the one he just made for Parsons, that you better be confident in the player you’re acquiring because of how much it’ll cost in trade capital and a contract.

So what made Gutekunst go ahead with this seismic deal?

“The picks and the financial part of it, that’s always a lot,” Gutekunst said. “But at the same time, like I said, this is a very unique player that rarely becomes available to us. So, a little bit like X (Xavier McKinney) and Josh Jacobs, there’s just not a lot of these players at this point in their career where their best football is ahead of them, that become available … every opportunity that we have to improve the football team, now and in the future, we’re going to take a look at. Certainly, this was something we were going to take a look at, and then we were just fortunate enough that we were able to get it across the finish line.”

New Packers president Ed Policy has vowed to stay out of football decisions, though Gutekunst said his new boss was consulted before making such a big move.

“Very supportive,” Gutekunst said of Policy during the process of acquiring Parsons. “Certainly, with a move like this, it’s certainly something that I would let him know that we were going down this road. When we’re signing practice squad guys, we don’t do that, but with something like this, the magnitude of the financial part of it, let him know that we’re going down this road and make sure that the organization’s prepared for it. Mark (Murphy) was exceptionally supportive during my time with him, and Ed was the same in this instance.”

Financial future

Here is a look at Parsons’ contract breakdown, via Over the Cap.

“I really like the three-year cap numbers, the first three years,” Gutekunst said. “I think that’s gonna give us the flexibility with a lot of really good players coming up that we’re still gonna be able to keep those guys. There’s no doubt when you acquire a player like this, who’s gonna take up that much of the cap, that you’re gonna have to make some choices. You always do. But again, looking at it right now, the cap numbers for ’25, ’26 and ’27, I think, are pretty solid for us and we’ll kind of see where that goes.”