The Dallas Cowboys have been wheeling and dealing over the last few days as they fought to get under the salary cap.
On Wednesday, ESPN's Todd Archer reported that the Cowboys restructured deals with Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith. Those moves opened up $66 million in space, and now the Cowboys have $8.4 million in cap space, per OverTheCap.
With the extra money they just freed up, America's Team can think about going on a hunt for help in free agency next week, which could include targeting safety Jalen Thompson.
Cowboys Are Now Closer to a Jalen Thompson Contract
With Christian Parker as their new defensive coordinator, the Cowboys will have to go out there and get him some guys to work with. And owner/general manager Jerry Jones revealed that Dallas plans to be more aggressive on the open market.
The secondary needs to get attention, and that's why Thompson makes sense. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler floated that he'll be an option and wrote, "They will also comb the free agent safety class (Arizona's Jalen Thompson makes sense)."
Last season, Dallas ranked 32nd in pass defense (251.5), and the idea of getting someone like Thompson over the top would be huge for this defense. Even more so with the Cowboys' safety situation in flux, as Donovan Wilson is a free agent while Malik Hooker is a cut candidate.
He was a stabilizing force in Arizona's secondary over the last seven seasons, playing in 99 games (87 starts). In those outings, Thompson had 578 total tackles, 37 pass deflections, and nine interceptions.
And his advanced stats on Pro Football Focus paint a clear picture of what kind of player he would be.
Season | Overall PFF Grade | Coverage Grade |
|---|---|---|
2019 | 64.4 | 70.3 |
2020 | 70.1 | 68.4 |
2021 | 68.2 | 72.9 |
2022 | 65.0 | 59.7 |
2023 | 71.3 | 77.0 |
2024 | 68.8 | 64.2 |
2025 | 68.7 | 69.2 |
As these numbers show, Thompson was consistent during his time in Arizona and would bring that to a secondary that needs it badly. In six of his seven seasons in the NFL, Thompson allowed 336 or fewer yards in coverage, with the most being 449 in the 2021 season.
Spotrac projects that Thompson will land a two-year, $18.9 million deal. That puts him at $9.5 million annually, but that's worth the shot for a safety that will be 28 years old when Week 1 kicks off.
The Cowboys made sure to create more cap space to get under the salary cap, yet there's a belief that they will give Parker some weapons to use in this new defensive scheme.
Joseph Hoyt of the Dallas Morning News theorized that the team could create even more space with some restructured or reworked deals with Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark. That would help them sign even more defensive reinforcements on top of the pending Cardinals free agent.
Regardless, the Cowboys now have some wiggle room in terms of cap space, bringing them one step closer to landing Thompson when free agency opens.