Cowboys safety position provides a slew of starting options, intriguing depths
Backup Markquese Bell played well as an undersized linebacker in 2023, and Juanyeh Thomas is believed to be a starting-level young talent. The four aren't perfect, however.
Wilson is a heat-seeking missile when playing downhill. He is effective against the run, delivering impactful hits and instilling fear like no one else on the back end. He has six interceptions, eight forced fumbles, and 13 sacks in 60 starts with a Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade of nearly 70 against the run and as a pass rusher.
His issues are in coverage, where his PFF grade was 56.6. He is a significant enough liability in coverage that Dallas wouldn't want him lined up against any of the top pass catchers in the league, and that could keep him off the field altogether if any of the backups somewhat match his ability as a run defender.
Hooker isn't a playmaker, but he avoids being a liability in any areas. He doesn't have a sideline-to-sideline range, but isn't often fooled on a deep ball. He also plays the run well for a free safety, and can be can be put in the box without worry of him failing to fill his gap.
At this point in his career Hooker could be a better strong safety, but Dallas would need someone with the ability to be a rangy, playmaking free safety to pair with him.
Bell doesn't fit the free safety role, but he could be a run defender who could significantly improve the pass defense. He started eight games as an undersized linebacker in 2023, showcasing a lot of heart and toughnessin accumulating 94 tackles, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and a missed tackle percentage of only 4.1%.
At 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds, he still played the run well, and PFF graded him 87.6 in coverage in 2023. In limited snaps last season at safety he had a 63.2 coverage grade.
Thomas showed promise as a coverage safety in 2023. He played in 16 games, starting one, and had 192 defensive snaps. He had a coverage grade of 85.9 and an overall grade of 81.1, but he couldn't find his footing in Mike Zimmer's defense last season. He played 100 fewer snaps and fell off nearly 25 points in coverage and overall grades according to PFF. If Thomas can find his 2023 play again, he could replace Hooker at free safety, allowing the latter to move to Wilson's spot.
Regardless of the configuration, those four are near locks for the roster unless Dallas cuts one of the starters to free up cap space.
Alijah Clark has nearly 600 snaps at free safety, in the box, and in the slot in his college career, so he brings versatility to the back end. He had excellent OTA play, even playing snaps with the first team. Zion Childress has 62 games of college experience and was consistently productive in each year with the Texas State Bobcats and Kentucky Wildcats. Another versatile player, with 1,106 snaps in the slot, 966 in the box, and 859 at free safety. He will look for his place playing on special teams and by having the ability to line up in multiple positions.
Mike Smith Jr. was a captain for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, but Dallas will likely try to develop him because the transition from NCAA Division Football Championship Subdivision to the NFL is challenging for any player.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or Bluesky @mike-crum-cdpiglet.bsky.social
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Why Won't Cowboys Rumor On Micah Parsons Trade To Packers Go Away?
Last week, we saw rumors swirling on social media that the Green Bay Packers could be a potential landing spot for Dallas Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons should the franchise entertain a trade for the All-Pro. We know they won't, but let's play this thing out. We know that the Cowboys have Micah under contract for the 2025 season, plus two franchise tags if they want to exercise, so a trade makes zero sense here. Owner Jerry Jones stated Micah's trade request was "part of negotiations" but now, it does seem like there is a little more runway to this rumor. Where there's smoke, there's fire? If Micah and his representation are genuinely out on playing for Dallas and want a trade, then we can only imagine how that would be received by the front office, and as far as trading Micah to the Packers? Do people really think the Cowboys would trade one of the best defensive players in football to a conference rival? Yeah, no, that would be a quick phone call. But our man Mike Fisher mentioned it last week. ... And now? It is worth pointing out that now, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport thinks the Packers would be a good landing spot for Parsons. This comes roughly a week after the initial "very serious" Packers offer for Micah. While we still take all of this with a grain of salt, and fully believe that Parsons will sign on the dotted line ... eventually, the longer he goes unsigned, the more legs rumors like this get. Are we completely shutting down the idea to the Packers? The NFL is a never say never business, so no we aren't. But are we concerned Parsons won't have a star on his helmet in 2025? Right now, no, but if Micah starts missing regular-season games, then I'll take this a little more seriously. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 18, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Jerry Jones goes scorched earth on Micah Parsons' agent as contract stalemate continues
Jerry Jones is attempting a new tactic as the Dallas Cowboys' stalemate with Micah Parsons drags on: going scorched earth on the All-Pro's agent. The Cowboys owner displayed both sides of his public persona in a matter of hours on Thursday, first going on Fox News in the morning and praising Parsons as a player when asked how close he was to a deal in a dispute that has consumed the NFL preseason. "Micah's a great player, not a good player," Jones said. "He knows more than anyone that it's a team thing, and, so, I know everybody's tired of hearing this, but you've got to put this puzzle together so that you can have some other people out there playing with Micah. "That's the art of the deal. And that's what we're trying to get done, and we're trying to make this thing work ... We have all the appreciation in the world for what he can mean to the years ahead. We're proud to have him." In the afternoon, however, Jones spoke with Cowboys legend Michael Irvin on his Youtube show and aired out seemingly every piece of dirty laundry he could find from how this whole thing has played out. First, he confirmed that he has offered Parsons the most guaranteed money of any defensive player in NFL history. He also implied he is ready to hit Parsons with the franchise tag twice after his rookie contract runs out at the end of this season, stating Parsons has three more years in Dallas ahead of him: "I have agreed to give more money than that's ever been given, in terms of guaranteed money, than anyone ever has, as far as a defensive player. I've done that. Now, I am the cat that writes the check, OK. Now, Micah's got three years with the Cowboys left. He's got three years. "At some point, somebody has to have the say over the other. At some point, it has to be that way. My job is managing the check. Micah's got to do the playing." The current high mark for guaranteed money for a defensive player is held by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt, who got $108 million guaranteed in his three-year, $123 million extension last month. However, Jones also went on to speak about an offer he personally made to Parsons in March, when the record would have been Nick Bosa's $88 million from the San Francisco 49ers. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] Jones placed the onus of the rift entirely on Parsons' agent David Mulugheta, whom he accused of having ulterior motives in negotiations: "Where is the least important part of this whole equation we're talking about. What is the least incremental part of the whole equation? The attorney or the agent. He works for Micah. He's not the principal here, in any way. In any way. They're in here to make their percentage. So many times in this industry, you've got another agenda going on with agents. A different agenda. They're playing a game. You tell me, are agents incentivized to not only get the most for that player, but they're trying to get, what? They're trying to get other players, because they've got an agenda for that player. That's their incentive, OK? Attorneys, exactly the very same way, and as you know, I do a lot of business." While Parsons' camp has been mostly silent about the negotiations since he announced he was requesting a trade, Jones has spoken almost daily about the matter. One thing that has frequently come up is a meeting between Jones and Parsons in March, when they supposedly reached a handshake deal for an extension. As Jones told it Thursday, Mulugheta rejected the agreement: "Come over to the office and I'll show you exactly what we offered Micah. We've got it in the back, it's all written down and ready to go ... When we wanted to send the details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass. "Micah and I talked, and then we were going to send it over to the agent. We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything. We were going to send it over to the agent, and the agent said, 'Don't bother, because we've got all that to negotiate.' Well, I had already negotiated. I had already moved off my mark on several areas. So the issue, very frankly, is we've had the negotiation in my mind and the agent's trying to get his nose in it, and come in there, and improve off the mark that we had already said." Maybe this doesn't need to be said, but let's just be clear here. No owner in the NFL talks about these things like this in public, except for the guy who currently has a Netflix series out about his wheelings and dealings. Essentially, Jones is complaining that he is being forced to negotiate with the person Parsons hired to negotiate on his behalf. It is a frequent move among owners to attempt to cut out the supposed middle men (agents, attorneys, executives) through a one-on-one meeting with players, but this is a case where the owner is also the team's lead negotiator. Whatever Parsons might have said in his meeting with Jones, he is perfectly within his rights to have Mulugheta review an agreement and act on his recommendation. Mulugheta reportedly declined comment but confirmed he was aware of what Jones said when approached by the Dallas Morning News. So this whole situation doesn't seem to be getting much better. On the bright side, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday that he feels good about the chances of star edge rusher Micah Parsons playing in Week 1. However, Parsons has yet to practice with the team in training camp, not in Oxnard, California, where they spent nearly a month this summer, and not back at The Star. At the moment, the Cowboys are set to pay Parsons $24 million this season, the fifth and final season on his rookie deal. Parsons, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, immediately made a name for himself in the league, winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. In each of his first four seasons, he's recorded at least 12 sacks — even last year when he played only 13 games while dealing with an ankle injury. The Penn State product has piled up 52.5 sacks, 256 total tackles, 112 quarterback hits and nine forced fumbles in 63 regular-season games. Parsons is only 26 years old, and he's seen as one of the league's best defenders. He wants to be valued as such. Even though Jones has signed linchpin players to delayed extensions before — most recently quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb — the longtime Cowboys owner doesn't appear to be any closer to inking Parsons to a new contract. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Tuesday that "it sounds like at this point it's personal" and that "it sounds like each side is dug in."
USA Today
2 minutes ago
- USA Today
Jerry Jones: Micah Parsons' agent said to stick contract offer 'up our (expletive)'
The Dallas Cowboys' star shines bright as the symbol for America's Team. Yet that star is a little dimmer with just two weeks to go before the NFL regular season kicks off as Micah Parsons remains in search of a new contract. It's been a difficult offseason on that front for the All-Pro, with seemingly no progress towards resolving the dispute. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones peeled back the curtain during an appearance on Irvin's YouTube channel, detailing the negotiations with his superstar pass rusher. "When we wanted to send the [contract] details to the agent, the agent told us to stick it up our ass," Jones said. "Micah and I talked and then we were gonna send it over to the agent. We had our agreements on term, amount, guarantees, everything." The agent told Jones to not bother because they still had to negotiate – something Jones says already happened in his mind, adding that he already moved off his mark on several fronts. "We've got this resolved in my mind, for the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said. "And we got it done. If the agent wants to finish up the details, which he should, and do all the paperwork, then he could do that. We're ready to go. As far as the amount of money, the years, the guarantees, all of that, we negotiated that." Jones wouldn't say whether the offer would make Parsons the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, but did offer another response to Irvin. "It would've made him the highest guaranteed player other than a quarterback in the NFL," he said. The owner pointed to Dak Prescott's contract as an example, calling it a precedent and saying they have three years to work it out with Parsons – given that he's in the final year of his contract and then can be franchise tagged for two more. Jones repeatedly made mention of the shelf life for football players in particular, pointing out that giving out a big guarantee can sometimes backfire. "You and I both know that everybody that walks out here is vulnerable, to a degree, of not playing again," Jones said, adding that it could hurt a team's chances from winning when that money could instead be spent on multiple players. He still has one goal in mind, however, which remains winning a Super Bowl – and he isn't afraid to open the checkbook to accomplish that. "I'm always willing to do what it takes," Jones said. "A year ago, I made Dak [Prescott] the highest-paid player ever in the history of the NFL. At the same time, I made the receiver [CeeDee Lamb] about the third or fourth-highest paid receiver in the NFL, Lamb. So I don't have a cramped up hand. I know how to wiggle a pencil and write a check. It's a question of doing it as smartly as we can do it. We have some really top players right now and we need to make sure we're judicious about how we allocate that money." Parsons looks to be part of the allocation of funds. However, feelings get hurt and plans change, meaning nothing is final until the ink dries. There are just two weeks to figure it out before the season kicks off and Jones runs the risk of not spending the money or having the player. If one thing's for certain, it appears that both sides need each other – especially if they want a chance to celebrate as the Cowboys-colored confetti falls at the Super Bowl.
