East Notes: Cowboys, Thomas, Jets, Giants

The Cowboys purged their veteran secondary in recent years by allowing Brandon Carr, Barry Church, and Morris Claiborne to walk in free agency. Now, the Cowboys have a young group of cornerbacks and safeties, which leaves some question marks on defense, Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas News writes.

Of course, the Cowboys could still inject some veteran savvy into the group by trading for Seahawks safety Earl Thomas. The Cowboys haven’t given up hope of acquiring the multiple-time Pro Bowler, and it sounds like Thomas would love to play in Dallas.

Here’s more from the East divisions:

• There are some notable players on the Jets‘ roster bubble, Darryl Slater of NJ.com writes, including wide receiver Devin Smith, outside linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin, and running back Thomas Rawls. Rawls, at one point in time, flashed some potential with Seattle, but the Jets’ top two RB spots are locked down by Bilal Powell and Isaiah Crowell. Meanwhile, rising sophomore Eli McGuire and sixth-round rookie Trenton Cannon could place ahead of him.
• Speaking of running backs in the Meadowlands, Matt Lombardo of NJ.com takes a look at the Giants‘ RB depth chart. Lombardo sees Wayne Gallman and Jonathan Stewart as the top backs behind rookie Saquon Barkley with Robert Martin on the bubble and Jalen Simmons on the outside looking in. Both Martin and Simmons joined the G-Men this year as UDFAs and Martin’s explosiveness gives him the edge over Simmons. Although Martin has impressed in practice, there’s no guarantee that the Giants will carry more than three running backs on their initial roster.
• On Tuesday morning, we rounded up the latest on the Cowboys.