The Dallas Cowboys chose to walk away from veteran safety Donovan Wilson when free agency began last week. Although Wilson was one of the pillars of their defense, his 2025 performance made it clear that the Cowboys needed a change in their secondary.
More than that, as an impending free agent, there were little to no incentives to bring him back, especially given that the Cowboys needed to do plenty of financial juggling to get under the salary cap before the start of the new league year.
Now, with the moves the Cowboys have made at safety, and with the first wave of free agency in the rearview mirror, it's become crystal clear that owner/general manager Jerry Jones made the right call by moving on from Wilson.
Donovan Wilson is Running out of Options in Free Agency
Spotrac projects Donovan Wilson's next contract to be for three years and $20.8 million, an average annual value of $6.9 million. As such, it's not much of a surprise to hear that there's little to no buzz around him, with other teams clearly being hesitant to give him that type of money after the season he had.
Pro Football Focus ranked him 93rd among 98 eligible safeties in coverage grade (38.8). He was solid against the run (73.9, 31st), but he was too much of a liability in the passing game, giving up 10.9 yards per catch on 29 receptions with a passer rating of 119.2.
Even if he had two picks and a couple of pass breakups, he missed 18 tackles and was often on the wrong end of big plays. Wilson can still have a place in the league as a rotational piece, but there was just no way to justify his salary anymore.
To make things sweeter for the Cowboys, they managed to land Jalen Thompson and P.J. Locke to replace Wilson.
Thompson will have a $4.6 million cap hit, and Locke's cap hit is only $3.9 million, so they essentially got two players for just a bit more than what they would've had to pay Wilson. The newly arrived duo may thrive under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker, all while Wilson can't find a new team.
It's also hard to imagine Wilson earning close to his projected number. According to Spotrac, of the 35 safeties who've signed new contracts as of Friday afternoon, only six of them nabbed an average annual value of $6.9 million or better. In other words, if he were going to get paid, it would've happened already.
Letting a starter always comes with plenty of risks, and it's hard to point fingers at only one guy after the whole defense struggled as much. The Cowboys gave up the most points per game (30.1) and the third-most total yards per game last season (391.4), and it would be unfair and inaccurate to put all that on Wilson.
Still, it's hard not to like how much better Dallas' safety situation looks after letting Wilson hit the open market. Perhaps his next team will be a better fit, but until then, one thing is clear: the Cowboys were right to turn the page.