For several offseasons now, there’s been a perceived need for the Dallas Cowboys to look to free agency and the draft to upgrade the safety position. Though many outside the organization have felt the Cowboys should attempt to improve the talent in the back end, the decision-makers within the Dallas Cowboys front office felt confident enough not to spend in free agency or expend valuable draft capital to do so.
Again, here the Cowboys sit with an excellent opportunity to upgrade the safety position in free agency. However, given their recent history, it seems unlikely that they’ll chase a player that might cost them a pretty penny. There are several safeties that could be a fit for the Cowboys and here are five that the Cowboys could pursue.
Yesterday, the safety group got a little bit deeper as the Miami Dolphins released long-time Safety Reshad Jones.
Jones, who just turned 32 years old, is coming off an injury-plagued season where he only played four games. It was only the second time in his career that he played less than 12 games in a season. It was also the first time in his career that he didn’t record an interception.
| Game | Game | Def | Def | Def | Def | Def | Fumb | Fumb | Fumb | Fumb | Fumb | Tack | Tack | Tack | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | G | GS | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | Fmb | FR | Yds | TD | Sk | Comb | TFL | QBHits |
| 2010 | 22 | MIA | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 21 | 2 | 1 |
| 2011 | 23 | MIA | 15 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2.0 | 67 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| 2012 | 24 | MIA | 16 | 16 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 1.0 | 94 | 4 | 4 |
| 2013 | 25 | MIA | 16 | 16 | 1 | 25 | 1 | 25 | 4 | 1.5 | 107 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| 2014 | 26 | MIA | 12 | 12 | 3 | 62 | 0 | 50 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 80 | 5 | 1 |
| 2015* | 27 | MIA | 16 | 16 | 5 | 104 | 2 | 42 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 2.0 | 135 | 9 | 2 |
| 2016 | 28 | MIA | 6 | 6 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 0.5 | 51 | 4 | 0 | |||||
| 2017* | 29 | MIA | 16 | 16 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 52 | 2 | 1.5 | 122 | 6 | 1 |
| 2018 | 30 | MIA | 14 | 13 | 3 | 109 | 1 | 54 | 9 | 0.0 | 72 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 2019 | 31 | MIA | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 27 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Care | Care | 128 | 113 | 21 | 361 | 4 | 54 | 55 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 85 | 2 | 10.5 | 776 | 41 | 16 |
Looking back through his career, only four times in his 10 years did he have a season with less than two interceptions. Though the Dolphins haven’t really been contenders throughout his career, he’s consistently been one of their best players and been a playmaker year in and year out.
With age and injuries on his most updated resume there may not be much of a market out there for him as teams, and the Dallas Cowboys specifically, are reluctant to pay age. That said, Jones could be this season’s version of Randall Cobb who was coming off of his own down season related to injuries and the Cowboys found an opportunity to get a player looking for a bounce-back season.
Reshad Jones’ ability to tackle and make plays in coverage makes him a versatile option that the Cowboys could play alongside Xavier Woods. Signing Jones also wouldn’t prevent the Dallas Cowboys from finding out what they have in second-year player Donovan Wilson or even spending premium draft capital on a safety.
When free agency opens on March 18th, the Cowboys are going to have plenty of options for the Cowboys to pursue at the safety position and Reshad Jones is one they should absolutely take a look at on a one or two year prove-it deal. His experience and leadership could make a difference in the back end for a Cowboys secondary that will experience some turnover heading into 2020.
