Is it inevitable the Dallas Cowboys land Earl Thomas?
By Tim Kohut
The Dallas Cowboys have been linked to the All-Pro safety Earl Thomas for quite some time. Does a deal get done sooner, rather than later?
Training camp is less than a month away, and the Dallas Cowboys have several questions to answer. Who is their number one receiver? Do we have a guy on the roster that can replace Jason Witten? Will the defense hold up?
All valid. However, we’ve beaten the Dez Bryant/Jason Witten replacement drum to nauseam, so let’s look at that third question. Defense.
The defense was, surprisingly, the Cowboys’ strong suit last season. They boasted a top ten defense for the first time since 2014, and finished as the eighth-ranked unit in the NFL. With most of their starters returning, plus the addition of new defensive backs coach Kris Richard, the Dallas Cowboys’ defense could get a whole lot scarier in 2018.
Richard, who likes a physical defensive backfield, is moving former starting safety Byron Jones back to cornerback, opening up a gaping hole in the Cowboys’ otherwise sturdy defense.
Sure, Jeff Heath is a cult-hero, Xavier Woods is an immense talent, and Kavon Frazier boasts the type of physicality you’d like to see from a strong safety, but there are question marks surrounding all three players.
Dallas has been linked to former Richard pupil Earl Thomas since the season ended, as the Cowboys have been hesitant to pony up a 2nd round pick for a player who is set to be a free agent after the season, and has made it known he wants to play for Dallas.
In short, Dallas has all the leverage to get a reasonable deal done. And at least, one Dallas-area sports columnist also thinks a trade to the Cowboys is inevitable.
"“The NFL undervalues safeties in general. The difference in this case is that no one has defended the deep secondary better than Thomas, a valuable asset in today’s NFL,” wrote Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News. “I also think he’s still got two or three years of his prime and could still start for another four or five … And I think the deal probably still gets done with the Cowboys.”"
It’s not difficult to see how this deal works for both parties. A rebuilding Seattle nets a mid-round selection for a guy that’s inevitably going to walk, and the Cowboys get their man one season before he hits the open market
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If the Seattle Seahawks finally come to their senses and realizes a deal for a second-round pick just isn’t going to happen, then the Dallas Cowboys would be foolish to not surrender a fourth or fifth round pick to acquire Earl Thomas‘ services.