Earl Thomas openly lobbied for the Cowboys to "come get me" near the end of his run with Seattle. Now, after he was released by the Ravens for conduct detrimental to the team, the Cowboys are the reported favorite to land Thomas, a seven-time Pro Bowl safety and Texas native.
During his press conference Monday morning, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said that he has discussed Thomas with Will McClay, the team's vice president of player personnel. That being said, McCarthy added that the team is "very confident in where we are as the 80-man roster." He also said that questions regarding available players are more for McClay, team owner/general manager Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones, the club's director of player personnel.
"We look at every situation," McCarthy said, via the team's official Twitter handle. "Player acquisition is 365 days a year."
As far as his current safeties, McCarthy said that he likes what's he's seen out of that group, specifically four-year veteran Xavier Woods, who is slated to be a starter this season after receiving just five starts during his first three years in Dallas. The Cowboys' depth at safety also includes veteran Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (who played for McCarthy in Green Bay), Darian Thompson and rookie Luther Kirk.
"I like what Xavier and all those guys are performing," said McCarthy, who also said that the Cowboys have spent a good portion of camp trying out different personnel groupings on both sides of the ball. "Communication is such a big part of training camp and progress, and I think all of our guys are doing a good job of that."
While Thomas' ability as a player is not in question (he returned from injury to be selected to his seventh Pro Bowl in 2019, his only season with the Ravens), his unceremonious departure from Baltimore led to McCarthy being asked how much he considers how players will fit into the team's culture when evaluating prospects.
"Everything is looked at," McCarthy said, "but at the end of the day, the main question you have to ask is, 'How does a player fit in your locker room?'"
McCarthy added that there has to be a "mutual understanding" when looking into signing a new player. Thomas, based on his previous comments, is likely still interested in becoming a Cowboy. The main question is how serious are the Cowboys as it relates to signing Thomas. Dallas' defense could certainly use a player of Thomas' caliber in the secondary.
