Earl Thomas Rumors: Latest on Cowboys Pursuit, Desired Contract, More

NFL safeties are landing lucrative deals rapidly ahead of the new league year beginning at 4 p.m. EST on Wednesday—except for the purported top player at the position. 

Rumors surrounding Earl Thomas' next team have been churning since he held out of the Seattle Seahawks' training camp ahead of the 2018 season.

For the Players' Tribune, Thomas explained his holdout in August 2018: 

"If you're risking your body to deliver all of this value to an organization, then you deserve some sort of assurance that the organization will take care of you if you get hurt. It's that simple. This isn't new, and this isn't complicated. It's the reason I'm holding out—I want to be able to give my everything, on every play, without any doubt in my mind.

"And it's the reason why I'm asking the Seahawks to do one of two things: Offer me an extension. Or trade me to a team that wants me to be part of their future."

The Seahawks did neither of those things, and now Thomas is an unrestricted free agent coming off of a fractured leg suffered against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 30. While being carted off the field, Thomas flipped off Seattle's sideline, and he missed the remainder of the 2018 season.

All of that sets the stage for what could happen now that Thomas is free. 

On Monday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport predicted that the free agent market for safeties was "gonna be strong." Specific to Thomas, Rapoport said, "First of all, Earl Thomas, no doubt the biggest ticket item here. Future Hall of Famer. The Dallas Cowboys have been linked to Earl.

"My understanding is they are by no means out on this at all. ... Several other teams are gonna be interested in Earl Thomas as well." 

"

The free agent market for safeties is gonna be strong... pic.twitter.com/sTk10BFrwi

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2019"

Since Rapoport's comments, money moves have been made in the free-agent safety market that fall under the strong umbrella.

Landon Collins left the New York Giants to sign with the Washington Redskins for six years and $84 million—$45 million guaranteed and all due to be paid out in the first half of the contract, per Rapoport. 

NFL.com had Collins as fifth on its list of top 101 free agents. Thomas sits at No. 2 only behind running back Le'Veon Bell. Collins turned 25 years old in January, while Thomas will turn 30 in May, so it's unlikely that Thomas would land a deal for as many years or millions as Collins. 

However, according to Jane Slater of NFL Network, Thomas is seeking "at least in the market of $14 million or more a year." Slater added that Thomas' benchmark is Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry's $13 million a year.

Collins got $14 million annually, as did Tyrann Mathieu—only 26 years old—from the Chiefs. The Houston Texans, Mathieu's former team, have been linked to Thomas, but their pursuit reportedly ended when they signed safety Tashaun Gipson to a three-year, approximately $22 million deal as Mathieu's replacement instead, according to the MMQB's Albert Breer.

That brings us back to the other team in Texas, the Cowboys—the team Thomas has been most vocal about wanting to join all along. In Dec. 2017, after a Seahawks win against the Cowboys, Thomas was caught telling Dallas head coach Jason Garrett, "If y'all have the chance, come get me."

Afterward, at his own locker, Thomas admitted to saying that and added he was always a Cowboys fan growing up.

"I don't literally mean, like, come get me now," Thomas said at the time. "I'm still in the prime of my career. I still wanna be here. But when Seattle kick me to the curb, please, the Cowboys, come get me. That's the only place I would rather be if I get kicked to the curb." 

On Tuesday, Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram discussed the plausibility of the Cowboys going to get Thomas: 

"The big money comes off the board first and the Cowboys have no intention of setting the market in free agency. They usually shop at the bargain bin in the second wave.

"Their focus in 2019 is on giving big money to their own free agent defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence at the top of the pecking order followed by possible extensions for quarterback Dak Prescott, receiver Amari Cooper, running back Ezekiel Elliott and cornerback Byron Jones.

"Any outside interest would be in free agent safety Earl Thomas of the Seattle Seahawks. But the Cowboys have indicated they would not be suitors as long as he wanted to become the league's highest-paid safety."

If this were last year, where the top safety free agent contract went to Kurt Coleman for just $16,350,000 over three years (h/t Spotrac), perhaps Thomas could have it both ways.

But after the way safety contracts such as Collins' and Mathieu's have reset the market, it seems Thomas is going to have to choose: finally getting that big payday elsewhere or fulfilling a childhood dream with the Cowboys.