The Cowboys spent months either working on an Earl Thomas trade strategy or being connected to the All-Pro safety during the 2018 offseason. They ended up not landing Thomas via trade or as a free agent this year.
Teams appear to have taken notice of the Cowboys’ depth chart here. After the Cowboys did not add a back-line defender in this draft, they have received calls from multiple teams to gauge Dallas’ interest in safeties, executive VP Stephen Jones said (via John Machota of the Dallas Morning News, on Twitter).
“It’s got to be a safety that works for us. We’re not going to be in any hurry,” Jones said (Twitter link). “We know we can go out and play really good defense with the guys we have.”
Despite not holding a first-round pick, Dallas made eight selections in the draft. Only one — fifth-round cornerback Michael Jackson — went toward the secondary. The Cowboys mentioned their interest in adding a safety pre-draft but, again, did not take one. This happened in 2018 as well.
The Cowboys signed former Bengals starter George Iloka this offseason and still have Xavier Woods and Jeff Heath — Pro Football Focus’ No. 46 and No. 81 safeties, respectively, in 2018 — at the position. Other teams, perhaps those that did invest in younger safeties or spent to sign high-profile safeties in free agency, may be trying to capitalize on these circumstances and pry some future draft capital from the Cowboys.
Cowboys also picked Donovan Wilson in the 6th round. Not that it would preclude them from making a bigger move.
While safety wasn’t necessarily a position of strength last year, I think it’s being overblown as a need. Xavier Woods finished strong and between Heath/Iloka I think it’s fine for the most part. Heath does get burned occasionally but he’ll make some big plays too.
Raiders may call to see if Dallas has any interest in Karl Joseph now that they drafted Jonathan Abram and signed Lamarcus Joyner. I doubt it would be for anything more than a 7th round pick though.
The Dolphins want to move Rasheed Jones a pro bowl safety.