Is it time for the Dallas Cowboys to trade for a safety?

With the NFL trade deadline quickly approaching, should the Dallas Cowboys use their bye week to fill there need at safety? Or do they even need one?

For years, one of the biggest positions of need for the Dallas Cowboys seems to be at safety. Yet, season after season, the Cowboys’ brass seemingly ignore the issue or address it with late-round draft fliers.

Dallas’ two current starting safeties are Jeff Heath and Xavier Woods. Heath was an undrafted rookie signing out of  Saginaw Valley back in 2013. He started nine games as a rookie, then spent the next three years mainly as a special teams ace.

Heath has made some key plays for the Cowboys in the past, leading the team in interceptions in both 2015 (2) and 2017 (3). But fans are critical of nearly every other aspect of his game from his tackling angles to his questionable coverage skills. Through seven contests so far this year, the 28-year old safety has recorded 38 combined tackles and four pass defends.

The other starter, Woods, is predictably a 2017 sixth-round selection out of Louisiana Tech. After starting just four games his rookie year, Xavier was a 14-game starter in 2018, recording 56 total tackles, nine pass defends, two interceptions, and a forced fumble. In his third season, he sits third in combined tackles on the team with 40, one pass defend, one pick, one forced fumble in six games.

At just 24-years old, Woods clearly has some upside. Yet, neither safety is considered anything more than adequate at this point. And perhaps that’s why the Cowboys aren’t as keen on the idea of replacing them. Although both Heath and Woods have a tendency to go invisible and aren’t considered consistent playmakers, they’re also less likely to make a game-crushing mistake. Trust is a huge factor to consider with this coaching staff, and this tandem has it.

Let’s also consider the Cowboys’ depth chart behind Heath and Woods. Safety Darian Thompson played well when he was pressed into a starting role against the Miami Dolphins in Week Three. The fourth-year veteran posted three total tackles and a pass defend.

Then there’s rookie safety Donovan Wilson. Again, predictably, taken in the sixth round out of Texas A&M this year. Wilson made many Cowboy fans giddy when he racked up three interceptions in four preseason games. But an ankle injury delayed his debut, and he’s played a total of 48 snaps so far this season. All of which have been on special teams only.

So if you are the Cowboys, you probably think you’re fairly set at the position. But Around The NFL Writer, Jeremy Bergman believes there may be an opportunity for the Cowboys to upgrade their safety position over the bye week. His proposed target via NFL.com? The Dolphins’ Reshad Jones.

"“With Jeff Heath struggling some, Dallas should consider seeking help in the defensive backfield, if not from a free agent like Eric Berry, then a veteran under contract like Jones. Another Dolphins player rumored to be on the outs for months now, Jones has stayed in Miami largely due to his sizable salary ($13.1M in 2019) … I could see a desperate Jerry Jones adding another Jones to the Cowboy family before next week’s deadline”"

Bergman would go on to place the potential compensation for someone like Reshad Jones to be at a 2021 third-round pick. And there is certainly a recent precedent between these teams to make a move like this. Miami traded defensive end Robert Quinn to Dallas earlier this year.

But as for Reshad Jones being a trade target for the Dallas Cowboys, that’s hard to envision. Jones is 31-years old and in his 10th NFL season. And he has three years left on a massive contract that’s scheduled to pay him north of $33 million in base salary alone according to Spotrac.com. Absorbing that kind of contract on a player over the age of 30 plus throwing in a Day Two pick seems farfetched.

Reshad Jones was a fifth-round selection out of Georgia back in 2010 by the Miami Dolphins. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in both 2015 and 2017. So far this season, Jones has recorded 21 tackles and a pass defend in three games as he’s been limited due to an ankle injury.