The Dallas Cowboys have been linked to safety Earl Thomas for more than a year, but it would be smarter to instead target the recently released Eric Weddle
There’s no doubt that the Dallas Cowboys need to address the safety position this offseason. Despite seeing their entire defense play better than expected in 2018, there was a glaring hole on the back end of the secondary and it often cost them chunks of yards in close games.
One potential solution has been to sign Earl Thomas, who has ties to the state and also was on the Seattle Seahawks with Kris Richard who now coaches defensive backs for Dallas. Thomas and the Boys have been flirting with a union since late in 2017 as he asked for them to trade for him and the team tried early in 2018 — at least up until Thomas suffered a broken leg.
Now a free agent, he’s seen as a fit for Dallas. However, he’s going to be incredibly pricey and is coming off a broken leg which has to give the team some concern. With that being said, there could be another option — like Eric Weddle who was recently released by the Baltimore Ravens in a salary cap move.
Of course, there are also concerns with Weddle. One is his age as he just turned 34 years of age and the other would also be his asking price. As for the age, Weddle hasn’t slowed down any as he started all 16 games the past three seasons for Baltimore and was a top-10 safety during that span — he even made the Pro Bowl each season in Baltimore.
With the question of price, it could be argued that Weddle will come in cheaper than Thomas. The former Seattle safety has plans to be the highest paid safety in the NFL whereas Weddle will surely want to get paid, but might be a little more realistic with his salary demands.
It wouldn’t be a long-term deal, but Dallas could try and lure Weddle in on a one, or two-year contract and allow him to shore up the defense while also playing the mentor role to Xavier Woods and a potential rookie. This won’t excite fans as much as seeing Thomas come back to The Lone Star State, but it’s possibly the smarter move for the team.