The Dallas Cowboys have a big need at the safety position and the NFL just happens to have plenty of top free agents available. When free agency begins next week, Dallas will be among the top teams being linked to the likes of Earl Thomas, Landon Collins, Eric Weddle and Tyrann Mathieu among others.
However, a report from The Athletic’s Calvin Watkins begs to differ. Watkins took to Twitter on Tuesday to report the Cowboys are actually not interested in Earl Thomas or Landon Collins. He also mentioned they’re not looking at recently released Eric Weddle.
With Thomas seeking more than 15 million dollars per year, it’s only logical to think the Cowboys will have a tough time getting any of these top safeties to wear the Star in 2019 and beyond. However, I simply do not buy a report saying the Cowboys aren’t interested in these guys.
The Cowboys have been trying to get Earl Thomas on their team since last year, when they tried to trade for him with the Seattle Seahawks. For months, we’ve been hearing about the mutual interest that exists between both parties. The team met with Thomas’ agent last week during the NFL Scouting Combine. Even if it was nothing but an informal meeting, they met.
As John Williams put it on Twitter, this is misinformation season. Wasn’t it last year when the Cowboys weren’t going to spend money in free agency and then went ahead to offer Sammy Watkins big time money? Haven’t we seen enough inaccurate reports this time of the year to know we shouldn’t take them as indisputable truths?
Now granted, in a bidding war for Earl Thomas, the Cowboys are likely to be on the losing side when the time comes. Teams with a much better cap situation will be in the mix, including the San Francisco 49ers, who have over $67M available according to Over The Cap. If push comes to shove, Dallas won’t be in a comfortable position to offer more than other teams. Not with such a long in-house “to-do” list of players waiting for big time extensions.
But “not being interested” is another thing. The Cowboys have a big need at safety and they’ll surely look at all their options, including the top free agents in the market. With such a free agent class, waiting until the NFL Draft to find a safety would be a huge mistake for Dallas. Without a first round pick they’ll have fewer chances of properly addressing other positions of need and frankly, there are very good safeties even after the “Tier 1” guys like Thomas and Collins.
Not to mention, thanks to Xavier Wood’s versatility, the Cowboys will have the opportunity to target any safety they want. Woods can play in both safety positions without a problem.
With free agency ready to begin next week, I won’t be surprised if the safety market takes a while to take off. With so many quality players available, they might wait on each other to set the value for what has been a slow market over the last few years.
What I don’t expect to see is the Cowboys being uninterested on a player they’ve been targeting since last season and on other top safeties who would help the defense a ton. The cap space is an issue, but the front office will have ways to work it if they really want to make a run for any of these free agents.
