Texas Football: Could Earl Thomas land with Cowboys post-release?
Now former Baltimore Ravens safety, and Texas football product, Earl Thomas could land with the Dallas Cowboys following his release on Aug. 23.
The Baltimore Ravens officially made the move on Aug. 23 to part ways with one of the best defensive backs in the entire NFL over the course of the previous decade. Former Texas football All-American safety and 31-year-old Orange, TX, native Earl Thomas was released by the Ravens over the weekend, and reacted promptly on social media following the drop of the news.
It was not all that long ago that Thomas posted on his Instagram page about him getting set back and ready for the start of the 2020 season in Ravens Training Camp. But that all boiled over on Aug. 21, as the reports of a fight that resulted from a scuffle in practice with his teammate and former Virginia Tech Hokies safety Chuck Clark.
Apparently this was the second major altercation between Thomas and a teammate (per ESPN report) in just the last 11 months during his time with the Ravens. Thomas was sent home from the Ravens practice facility on Friday after this altercation with Clark. And it wasn’t all that long after that scuffle that the news from the Ravens started to come out that they intended to part ways with Thomas.
This has really just been a weird roller coaster ride for Thomas this offseason all-around.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEINOvnpo5X/
The Ravens released Thomas officially on Sunday after just one season with the team. He received his seventh career Pro Bowl selection last season. He is also a seven-time All-Pro and won a Super Bowl ring during his run with the Seattle Seahawks earlier in his career.
The wording of Earl Thomas’ release means there will be a grievance and the Ravens are expected to pursue money. https://t.co/OTXRVhoENK
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 23, 2020
With the release of Thomas becoming official to cap the weekend, there were surely going to be a number of suitors to follow for the likely future Hall-of-Fame safety. The issues in practice are clearly going to be a hurdle for Thomas on the open market, but there should still likely be a good number of teams wanting to sign him now.
Dallas is square in play on Earl Thomas, with one source going as far as to say the Cowboys “would be leading contender.” https://t.co/5cYVKoSutq
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 23, 2020
The apparent leading contender that is floating around in discussion of who will sign Thomas next is the Dallas Cowboys out of the NFC East. There has long been a discussion of whether the Cowboys would sign Thomas to bolster their defense, and more specifically secondary.
But this might be their opportunity to give Thomas another shot in the NFL. The Cowboys do have a lot of pressure to succeed this coming season on another year of expensive contracts for star running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Amari Cooper. The Dak Prescott-contract situation also was the overarching storyline to the Cowboys offseason, away from the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Next. 3 G5 teams the Big 12 should consider adding for the 2020 season. dark
This could be Thomas’ 11 year in the NFL. Coming out of the Longhorns football program, he was originally selected 14th overall by the Seahawks in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He’s spent nine seasons of his NFL career with the Seahawks, and had just one with the Ravens before his release over the weekend.