The Dallas Cowboys were busy during the first week of free agency, making multiple signings in the secondary in hopes of fixing their defense. The Cowboys brought in cornerback Cobie Durant and safety P.J. Locke on one-year deals, and safety Jalen Thompson on a three-year contract.
The Durant signing gives them another starting corner to go with DaRon Bland and Shavon Revel. As for Locke and Thompson, it officially put an end to any idea about the Cowboys bringing back veteran safety Donovan Wilson.
The 31-year-old Wilson is one of the several veteran free agent safeties still sitting in the open market. The safety market saw a lot of action during the opening days of free agency, as several defensive backs found new homes or decided to stick with their team from last season.
The hope was that Wilson would be in that mix, but that isn’t the case, which doesn’t bode well for him, as free agency will start to slow down. Eventually, teams will switch their attention to the NFL draft. And this year’s safety draft class is good, which could leave veterans like Wilson on the outside looking in.
Donovan Wilson Still Unemployed in Week 2 of NFL Free Agency
It's possible that Wilson's continued unemployment could be connected the financial figure he's seeking.
According to Spotrac, Wilson's calculated market value is a three-year, $20.8 million deal ($6.9 million average annual value). It might be hard for Wilson to come close to that number, as only five safeties got three-year deals in the first week of free agency. And all of those safeties are under 30 years old.
This means that when those safeties’ deals are done or coming to a close, they’ll be just hitting that 30-year-old plateau.
In addition to his age and the upcoming draft class at safety, another reason why Wilson might be struggling to find work is that his last season in Dallas wasn’t great. The veteran defensive back had 71 combined tackles, five pass deflections, three tackles for loss, two interceptions, and a forced fumble.
While it was good to see Wilson create takeaways, as it was the third time in his career that he had at least two interceptions, his coverage skills left much to be desired. The veteran defender allowed 329 receiving yards (12.2 receiving yards per reception), seven receiving TDs, and had an ugly 121.3 passer rating when targeted.
It was the second-straight season that Wilson had a passer rating of over 120 (130.0 in 2024), which means he’s a liability in coverage. In fact, over the last two years, he’s given up 13 TDs, and that doesn’t help his case to get signed.
According to Pro Football Focus, Wilson’s pass coverage grade was 38.8 (ranked 93rd among 98 eligible safeties), and his run defense grade was a solid 73.8 (ranked 31st).
With that being said, if you’re a team looking for a new safety, do you take Wilson, whose pass coverage skills might be on the decline, or take a chance on a rookie? The consensus might take their chances with a rookie, with a veteran like Wilson on a one-year deal as an emergency backup option.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if Wilson finds a new opportunity in the coming days and weeks, as he’s done a good job staying on the field over the last four seasons.