Dallas Cowboys release Ha Ha Clinton-Dix: Hello Earl Thomas?
Despite having a key injury at the position, the Dallas Cowboys release Ha Ha Clinton-Dix
The Dallas Cowboys were potentially going to enter Week One of the regular season against the Los Angeles Rams without one of their starting safeties. Xavier Woods suffered a groin injury last Sunday and has missed practices ever since. That fact seemed to secure a spot on the final roster for safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. It did not.
According to multiple reports, the Cowboys have released Clinton-Dix as they continue to trim their 80-man roster down to the NFL mandated 53-players by this Saturday. Dallas signed the former first-round safety to a one-year, $3.5 million deal earlier this year.
But there’s no need to feel bad for Clinton-Dix as the Cowboys could pay him as much as $2.25 million for taking part in a virtual offseason and a stunted training camp. The move will save Dallas $1.5 million in salary-cap space according to ESPN’s Todd Archer. Although that amount could change if Clinton-Dix joins another team this season.
The former Green Bay Packer defender who played under new Cowboys’ head coach Mike McCarthy clearly underwhelmed this summer as Clinton-Dix came to Dallas projected to take the place of former starter Jeff Heath in the secondary. Instead, it was Darian Thompson who appeared to win the starting job during camp.
The release of Clinton-Dix could mean the Cowboys don’t consider the groin injury suffered by Woods to be serious. Or it might be that the new coaching staff is simply comfortable with the other safeties projected to make the final roster.
That list potentially includes Thompson, Donovan Wilson, and rookie Reggie Robinson. Both Robinson and fellow cornerback Daryl Worley spent reps at safety during training camp.
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Does this move open the door to the Dallas Cowboys signing Earl Thomas?
But the move to release Ha Ha Clinton-Dix seemingly opens the door that much wider for the Dallas Cowboys to sign All-Pro free agent safety Earl Thomas. The position of safety was projected to be one of the Cowboys’ weakest before the injury suffered by Xavier Woods and Thursday’s release of Clinton-Dix. So, it’s difficult to see how the team would believe they get any better as a unit without signing someone like Thomas.