Will the Dallas Cowboys finally sign free agent safety Tre Boston?

For years Cowboys Nation has been trying to get the Dallas Cowboys to sign Tre Boston. With a new coaching staff in place, will this finally be the year they do it?

Contrary to outside belief, Jerry Jones doesn’t act unilaterally in matters of player personnel. A GM in name only, Jerry leans on player personnel guru Will McClay and son Stephen Jones to do most of the heavy lifting on the Dallas Cowboys. And even those two allow their coaches to weigh in, so free agent decisions are more a group decision than a traditional General Manager decision.

So even though the Dallas Cowboys passed twice on Tre Boston in free agency, it doesn’t mean they are going to pass again in 2020. That’s because their coaching staff has changed, and Mike Nolan, the new defensive coordinator, may steer them in Tre Boston’s direction.

Now, there’s no hard link between Boston and Nolan, but for a team that seems intent in finding ballhawks, has a need at starting safety, and is about to replace their best cornerback (Byron Jones) with what’s likely to be a rookie, a veteran safety like Tre Boston makes perfect sense.

With Jeff Heath a free agent, the Dallas Cowboys are in the market for a safety. Xavier Woods is locked in as the incumbent free safety so conventional thinking says Dallas needs a strong safety. But these are not yesterday’s Dallas Cowboys. No longer will they lean so heavily on a single high Cover 3 look that puts one safety in center field.

Under Nolan they’ll be using more Cover 2 and 2-high safety looks (and still some single high). Having a second deep safety (with ball skills) is important. Especially since Dallas may be without their two most tenured CBs, Byron Jones and Anthony Brown (both free agents).