The moves came in quick and fast this week. One player the Dallas Cowboys agreed to terms with during the legal tampering period was former Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson on a three-year deal worth up to $36 million. It reunites Thompson with Cowboys secondary coach Ryan Smith, who previously coached him in Arizona. Thompson is still only 27 and arrives after spending all seven of his NFL seasons with the Cardinals.
He was credited with 95 tackles, one sack and six passes defended in 15 games in 2025, and over 99 career games he has 578 tackles, 37 passes defended and nine interceptions. What he brings to the defense is versatility with credibility. He first took over as a free safety in 2021 and later moved full-time to strong safety, so he is not a one-note box defender. He has played both spots, knows Ryan Smith’s teaching, and has enough starting experience to stabilize communication in the secondary.
Pairing that kind of interchangeable safety with Malik Hooker gives Dallas a much cleaner starting picture than it had a week ago, especially with Donovan Wilson sitting in free agency. On the current roster, Hooker, Thompson, Markquese Bell, and newly-signed P.J. Locke will be active, while the Cowboys’ free agency list has Donovan Wilson as an unrestricted free agent and Juanyeh Thomas as a restricted free agent. So the most logical projection here is Thompson and Hooker are the top two safeties, with Bell and Locke as the next men up. Thomas is a player Dallas can still retain to compete for a role if the team wants more range and special teams value in the room.
This is where the draft impact starts. Before this move, Dallas’ own free agency preview made it clear safety was in flux because both Wilson and Thomas were headed into free agency in some form. Now the Cowboys no longer walk into the draft needing a safety to start immediately in Week 1. They have even lessened the need for long-term depth at the position.
That also clarifies what this means for Dallas’ two extremely important first-round picks. After adding Thompson, Dallas can now attack premium positions with those two picks instead of forcing a safety because of need. At pick 12, the Cowboys can sit and take the best premium defender available. At pick 20, they have the flexibility to double-down on edge or corner, address linebacker, or even trade down if the value lines up. A first-round safety now looks to be dead, as this is now a luxury position instead of a survival move.
So the signing does two things at once, it raises the floor of the 2026 defense, and it protects Dallas from making a panicked draft pick later in the first round. Thompson gives the Cowboys a real starting-caliber answer next to Hooker, leaves room to keep building the room with Bell, Locke, and possibly Thomas, and frees picks 12 and 20 to be used where first-round capital usually matters most in a more premium position. That is why this is a smart signing. It is not just about adding a good safety. It is about giving the Cowboys the freedom to let the board come to them in the first round.