Cowboys' John Fassel on Micah Parsons returning kicks: 'He would be fantastic'

There's a new and intriguing kickoff rule set to debut in the NFL in the 2024 season.

Might it open up new opportunities for some high-profile players? Perhaps.

Might one of them be Dallas Cowboys do-it-all defensive dynamo Micah Parsons? Perhaps not.

Discussing the upcoming changes to kickoffs, Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel admitted he'd love to have the playmaking Parsons back to return kicks, but he knows that's truly fantasy football.

"You know Micah. So, he has lobbied me in the past to just be the primary kickoff returner," Fassel said on a recent edition of the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. "I'm like, Micah, that's the question you got to go a little further up than me on that one. But would I love to see him back there? Absolutely, because he would be fantastic. He would catch it and he'd run wild and he'd probably get incredible yards. But that ain't going to happen. I'm aware of that."

Parsons is one of the most dominant defenders in all the NFL land and one of the finest players in the league overall. Due a big money second contract in the future, Parsons isn't about to be put into peril returning kicks, but it's nice to imagine the possibilities.

Exceptional as an off-ball backer and a pass rusher, Parsons has been a Pro Bowler in each of his three seasons and is a two-time All-Pro. His mix of power, speed and versatility leads the mind to wander just what other aspects of the game who could excel at.

However, the 24-year-old's played just 15 special teams snaps over three years -- with 14 coming as a rookie and just one in 2023.

Still, Fassel can dream and he knows Parsons would likely shine returning kicks or covering them. Fassell first glimpsed Parsons doing the latter while scouting Penn State