As if the Dallas Cowboys' defense hasn't had enough to worry about during this 2025 NFL season, Matt Eberflus' underperforming unit went into its Week 8 matchup with the Denver Broncos without the services of starting safeties Donovan Wilson (elbow) and Juanyeh Thomas (migraine).
America's Team was already thin at the position with Malik Hooker (toe) still sitting on injured reserve, thus forcing Brian Schottenheimer to start Markquese Bell and seldom-used Alijah Clark. Things took another turn for the worse when Clark had to exit the game with a rib injury, putting Schottenheimer in a position where he had to use cornerback Reddy Steward at safety to close out the embarrassing 44-24 defeat.
Thomas participated in team drills at Wednesday practice, which is a positive sign but doesn't mean he's 100 percent, but Wilson did not, as he was a member of the rehab group. Hooker still isn't ready to return, despite being eligible to come off IR this week, and Clark, who was nowhere to be found on the practice field, will apparently be sidelined for several weeks with the aforementioned rib injury, thus leaving Bell as the only genuinely healthy safety on the Dallas roster.
Sure, the Cowboys could pluck their lone practice-squad safety in Julius Wood, who appeared in nine regular-season games with the Tennessee Titans a season ago as an undrafted rookie, but elevating him to the active roster isn't going to inspire much confidence among Cowboys fans.
That said, however, there is help available if Jerry Jones is willing to pick up the phone. And I know that's a popular thing to say right now, given that the NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday, but this particular call would actually go to a free agent that has surprisingly been unemployed throughout the entire season, that being Justin Simmons.
Justin Simmons would make for a significant upgrade to the Cowboys' secondary
A third-round pick of the Broncos in 2016, Simmons spent eight years in the Mile High City, racking up 604 total tackles, five forced fumbles, 64 passes defended, and 30 interceptions, while earning four Second-Team All-Pro selections, the latest coming just two seasons ago.
After being released following that 2023 campaign, seemingly solely for salary cap reasons, the Boston College alum played last year with the Atlanta Falcons. And while he didn't have the best year of his career, he still posted 62 tackles, seven passes defended, and a pair of picks in 16 games.
Simmons was rumored to join several teams ahead of this season, but nothing ever came to fruition. And that's good news for the Cowboys because he could undoubtedly come in and see significant snaps in a secondary that's been the worst in the league thus far.
Even when healthy, Thomas and Wilson, like nearly everybody else on the Dallas defense, have been disappointing. Of the 88 safeties eligible to earn overall PFF grades, Thomas ranks 60th (58.3) while Wilson comes in at No. 79 (47.8). Bell is even worse in 83rd (44.9), and while Clark has taken enough snaps to be genuinely ranked, his 32.6 mark on the snaps he has taken says enough. Hooker is actually the highest-ranked of the bunch at No. 56 (60.0), but it's hard to know what to expect from him when he returns from injury.
Yes, Simmons will turn 32 on November 19. But again, he'd still be a significant upgrade over just about anyone in the Cowboys' safety room right now. One wouldn't think he'd be overly expensive, and without having to give up any draft capital in a trade to get someone of his caliber, this should be an easy decision to make for Jerry Jones.