Hours after the Cowboys shocked the football world by trading away Micah Parsons, the team’s owner explained the rationale for the move.

Jerry Jones, sitting next to his son, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones, at a Thursday press conference, said there was no ill will toward Parsons but that the deal with the Packers, in the end, was “by design.”

“I really like Micah, I appreciate the four years that we had him here. He’s a great player,” the elder Jones said at a press conference.

“Without being too broad, obviously, we did think it was in the best interest of our organization. Not only the future but right now this season, as well. We gained a Pro Bowl player in an area we had big concerns in on the inside of our defense.”

In the trade, the Cowboys got three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks, one each in 2026 and 2027.

Jones said the Cowboys appreciated Parsons and his 52.5 sacks over his first four seasons, but they need to improve in one major area — the run game.

They hope Clark, who has 417 tackles over nine NFL seasons, can fill that void.

“The facts are specifically, we need to stop the run,” Jones added. “And we haven’t been able to stop the run in key times for several years. And when you have the kind of extraordinary pass rush that [Micah] had, then the way to mitigate that pass rush is to run at you. If the pass rush doesn’t get you ahead pretty big time, and you’re playing even or behind, then you’ve really got a problem in stopping the run.”

Jones said he and the Cowboys had a “very genuine negotiation” with Parsons and said the team offered the two-time All-Pro a “good” contract in April that didn’t come to fruition.

Parsons and the Cowboys relationship deteriorated this summer as the edge rusher, who was entering the final year of his rookie contract, sought a new deal from Dallas, which he did not get.

That led to a trade request that he posted on social media at the start of August.

He finally got his wish Thursday when he was dealt to Green Bay and got a reported four-year, $188 million deal.

“There’s no bad feelings on my part about the fact that we didn’t come together on an agreement,” Jones said.