Dallas Cowboys: Earl Thomas trade talks heating up

The Dallas Cowboys will likely have until the end of July to get a deal done for Seattle Seahawks star safety, Earl Thomas. Let’s look at the situation.

The Dallas Cowboys have been linked to Earl Thomas since 2017 and it appears that the time may be drawing near for the team to make a move. The All-Pro safety is one of the best defensive backs in the NFL so it makes sense for Dallas to get a true leader in the secondary.

Thomas has expressed a desire to play for the Cowboys, so much so that his teammates all knew about it a year ago. But just how likely is a trade and when could it occur? Let’s take a look at the situation.

The Dallas Cowboys along with plenty of other NFL teams should begin training camp towards the end of the July so that basically gives us a framework of 20 days in which the team can get a deal done.

The Cowboys have said before they would not mind heading into the season with the current crop of safeties they have (Jeff Heath, Xavier Woods, Kavon Frazier, Jameill Showers, Kameron Kelly, etc).

Now personally I am 50/50 on that in the sense that sure Woods can certainly develop into an elite safety but the jury is out on everyone else. Frazier hits hard but lacks coverage skills and Heath will be a solid option no matter what (after the play he made against Oakland, how can you hate him?). But in reality is it enough to stop some of the most dynamic offensive threats the NFL has to offer? Can any of these players stop Aaron Rodgers?

The likely answer is no. The Cowboys also lack a lot of leadership in the secondary and Earl Thomas is a player who can remedy a lot of problems. The addition of Thomas for two picks seems like a bargain (as long as those picks are not in the first or second round).

The only question surrounds the price of Thomas as the Seattle Seahawks have not been as flexible with compensation as once previously thought. Thomas needs a new contract and that only complicates the matter even further. If getting Thomas means trading a first or second round pick and paying him an exorbitant amount of money, that could just be too much for the Cowboys front office to swallow.

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On the other hand, if Thomas really wants to play for Dallas the ball is in his court, he knows what he is worth but players take a discount to end up in the right situation all the time. At this stage it is not a matter of if but when these things will be worked out and that will likely happen at some point before the end of July.

Even if Thomas were to remain on the team for the remainder of 2018 he would still become a free agent next march and that could mean he would likely end up in Dallas anyway. The Seattle Seahawks would be wise to take the best deal the Dallas Cowboys offer them and move on entirely.

With Kam Chancellor retiring, Richard Sherman gone, Thomas is the only original Legion of Boom member remaining. Even Kris Richard is with the Dallas Cowboys so it makes for Thomas to want a change of scenery. 

It actually is somewhat curious that the Cowboys went and obtained the services of Richard and what their end goal with him actually is. Richard is such a talented defensive coordinator he could have easily found a head coaching gig, however, he decided to take a step back just to be in Dallas, does he know something we don’t?

Was the move to bring in Richard something that would have helped facilitate Thomas coming to Dallas? How could it not be as the Cowboys have needed safety help for quite a while now.

We saw how long it took to get Zack Martin’s deal done so it makes sense that the Cowboys would need to take some time ironing out the details of any potential trade with Thomas (especially his contract situation).

It also makes sense that talks of a DeMarcus Lawrence extension have ramped up as they could likely use the cap space they save from any long-term deal to help facilitate Thomas coming to big D. The only thing that is certain is that the Dallas Cowboys are running out of time to bring Thomas into the fold.

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If any deal were to be made it would have to be prior to the second week of training camp.