Donovan Wilson has had an unpredictable career in Dallas, rising from draft obscurity to a prominent starting role. But the safety’s future is in doubt as potential salary cap savings and a ready in-house replacement make it hard to see him getting a seventh season with the Cowboys.
Wilson is a hard-hitting, occasional play-making safety who’s been a full-time starter in Dallas over the last four-plus seasons. Taken near the end of the sixth round in the 2019 NFL Draft, Wilson moved up the depth chart in 2020 and remained prominent even after the Cowboys added veterans Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker in 2021. They often worked as a trio in Dan Quinn’s defense, with Kearse playing a nickel linebacker role.
Things became more traditional in 2024 after Kearse was not re-signed, making Hooker and Wilson the starters with Juanyeh Thomas and Markquese Bell as intriguing, young backups. A year later, Wilson is now the veteran at risk of not being retained.
With one year left on his contract, Wilson is scheduled to count $8.65 million against Dallas’ 2025 salary cap. The Cowboys can get back $5.35 million if they make him an outright cut or $7 million with a June 1st designation. It’s put Wilson in a neck-and-neck race with OT Terence Steele for the team’s most likely cap casualty this offseason. But while Steele has some mitigating factors given the team’s overall landscape at offensive tackle, Wilson doesn’t have the same traction at safety.
Granted, Dallas isn’t without offseason business at safety. Markquese Bell and Juanyeh Thomas are both entering free agency, albeit not with unrestricted status. Thomas is the key figure here, having shown much more potential as a future starter. With only two years of accrued NFL seasons, having spent his rookie season only on the practice squad, Thomas will be an exclusive rights free agent. Dallas can essentially offer him any amount, though they may not lowball him too severely if they want to preserve a future relationship. Still, Thomas isn’t likely to get much more than about $1 million for 2025.
The idea of replacing Wilson with Thomas as a starting safety could make sense on multiple levels. Thomas has generally shown comparable talent to Wilson when playing. He would also be much more affordable for two more years between the ERFA contract and being a restricted free agent in 2026. And while he finished 2024 on the injured list with his knee, Thomas is expected to be fully recovered well before the next campaign.
Still, Dallas isn’t exactly flush with other safety options. Bell will be a restricted free agent and the Cowboys aren’t likely to pay him $3 million or more for one of the RFA tenders, which will allow him to test the open market. Israel Mukuamu is also a free agent now that his rookie deal is up. So right now, Wilson and Malik Hooker are the only safeties officially under contract for next season.
Also, it’s worth noting that Dallas’ overhead at safety is much lower than many NFL teams. The $7 million per year that Hooker and Wilson each make is a fraction of the $18-$21 million in annual salary for the likes of Antoine Winfield Jr, Derwin James, and Budda Baker. Of course, they’re also not nearly as impactful on the field as those stars. But that does give some perspective on why the Cowboys may not feel too bad about keeping Wilson at his current salary, even with the cap relief potential.
Going into next season with Malik Hooker, Donovan Wilson, and a re-signed Juanyeh Thomas as your core safeties leaves just one or two roster spots to fill at the bottom of the depth chart. It’s not a bad way to go with so many other needs to address, but the question is if they feel they can handle other business without that $5 million chunk they could get by cutting Wilson. That’s what puts him in the crosshairs and, with Thomas ready for a bigger role, makes him the Cowboys’ most likely salary cap casualty.
