State of the Cowboys roster: Secondary

Will Dallas re-sign Stephon Gilmore or Jourdan Lewis?

This is the last in a five part series detailing who is currently under contract and the decisions the team has to make.

Offensive backfield and specialists review is here.

Wide receivers and tight ends review is here.

Offensive line review is here.

Defensive line and linebackers review is here.

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It’s time to wrap up the review of the Dallas Cowboys before free agency officially gets underway. Just as a reminder, this is about who is already on the team, and what needs to be addressed in free agency and the draft.

Cornerbacks

Starters: Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland

Depth: Nahshon Wright, Eric Scott, Josh Butler

This is a bit grim, and it is also a little scary to think about what would have happened if Bland had not been such a steal. Diggs is the best corner the team has. That comes with the caveat of his returning to form from the injury that cut his season short in 2023. He was lost in just the second week, after notching an interception the first game. Many players do bounce back, but in Michael Gallup the Cowboys have a cautionary tale. Diggs’ injury was not as severe, but we still are not going to be tabulating fetal domestic fowl prematurely.

Still, the team has to base its plans on a projection of Diggs being their starter, and doing a good job. Bland proved he is a decent coverage player with an uncanny nose for the ball, shattering the NFL record for interceptions returned for a touchdown in a season. That sets the defense up with a very solid starting pair.

However, like most defenses, Dallas is expected to keep using the nickel most of the time, which requires a third starter. With both Stephon Gilmore and Jourdan Lewis entering free agency, there is no readily apparent answer with the team now to fill that nickel back role. (Feel free to make your own jokes about an often derided rock band here.)

The Cowboys don’t spend much in free agency, but when they do part with more than bargain basement money, it tends to be on their own impending free agents. It is useful to refer again to Dan Rogers’ estimates of what kind of contracts he expects the defensive free agents to command this year.

Lewis would be a very affordable answer, and he played the slot as well. His return would be the simplest way to go forward. However, Gilmore showed last year he is still capable of playing at a high level, and brings more to the table than Lewis, particularly in terms of savvy. If Dan is right on him, that is still not too high a price. It is even conceivable the team could decide to invest in fixing cornerback by bringing back both, but remember that Stephen Jones is the main arbiter of cap spending. It is a good idea, just not all that likely.

If they do not sign one of them, cornerback becomes almost a necessity during the first two days of the draft for Dallas. Even if they do bring back one, it would still not be a bad way to invest their capital. We can rest assured they aren’t spending much on outside free agents, and finding a deal like last year’s trade to acquire Gilmore is going to be hard to duplicate. So all you draftniks can grind on college corners until your heart’s content.

Some may wonder if they will also bring back C.J. Goodwin, but he is a special teams ace with limited value in the defense and doesn’t really affect this. It may be time for him to move on, anyway. He is 34, which is advanced late age in football terms, and was injured last season.

Safety

Starters: Donovan Wilson, Malik Hooker

Depth: Juanyeh Thomas, Israel Mukuamu, Sheldrick Redwine

As opposed to cornerback, the safety room looks fairly good. Wilson and Hooker are very solid starters, while Thomas seems to bring a decent bit to the table, and Mukuamu seems to be coming along as he matures in the defense.

Jayron Kearse is another affordable player if the team wants to take a run at re-signing him. But this is another place where Mike Zimmer taking over for Dan Quinn may play a role in what the team decides to do. Kearse was the most productive of Quinn’s hybrid safety/linebacker players, but that does not seem to be something Zimmer is going to use as much. Still, Kearse is a solid, very hard hitting safety. There may be a place for him in Zimmer’s secondary.

There are self-imposed limits on how much the Cowboys will spend on free agents, including their own. We don’t like it, but our opinion doesn’t matter here. There are lots of other places where they need to find answers. Additionally, safety has seldom been a place the current regime has invested much draft capital. Given that they are in relatively good shape here, that trend should continue.

There are always a lot of moving parts for any NFL team at this point in the year. It does seem that the Cowboys have a bit more this year than most. Each decision will affect others and they are usually less flexible in finding ways to address things than most. While free agency is often a source of deep frustration for fans and they are short of draft ammo this year, there are still going to be moves in the coming weeks. When they happen, we’ll be here with news and analysis of them all. Buckle up. Football never really stops in the NFL.