Dallas Cowboys: 3 Free agents that should be signed in 2021

1. Justin Simmons, Safety

It’s baffling when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys obsession with average safeties. Ever since they were burnt on the tail-end of Roy Williams’ career, they have tried to go bargain shopping at the position. And as we mentioned when discussing the bargain shopping at defensive tackle, you get what you pay for.

As for the safety position, in free agency Dallas has paid for George Iloka and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in recent seasons and neither made the opening-day roster. In terms of draft stock, they have used a sixth-round pick on Xavier Woods and Donovan Wilson while throwing in waiver claims and undrafted free agents along the way.

The results speak for themselves as Dallas has continually fielded one of the worst secondaries in the NFL. While the cornerbacks get the brunt of the criticism, the fact is, the safeties are just as guilty of giving up big plays — if not more.

Just think of any elite secondary and there’s always a stud safety back there cleaning things up. Earl Thomas, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, Ronnie Lott — and that’s just a few of them. If Dallas ever wants to have a top-tier defense, they need a game-changing safety. And this is where Justin Simmons comes in.

The Denver Broncos safety is one of the absolute best in the business and he seems to only be getting better. He has 357 career tackles and 15 picks in five seasons including four this year which is as much as the entire Cowboys roster — and four more than all the Dallas safeties combined.

Simmons would be costly but at just 27-years of age, he’s still in the midst of his prime. His presence alongside the emerging Donovan Wilson could finally give them a safety corps capable of making some big plays.