Earl Thomas to now report to Seahawks, who turned down 2nd-round pick from Cowboys
Sources have confirmed that the Dallas Cowboys have upped their offer to the Seattle Seahawks for Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas from a third-round pick to a second-round pick and were still turned down.
According to a source close to the situation, it’s his understanding that the Seahawks may now want a first-round pick for Thomas.
The Cowboys refused to budge on their final offer of a No. 2 pick.
But it all may be moot now, as Thomas plans to report to the Seahawks today after holding out all offseason and training camp in hopes of a new contract, per a source.
He confirmed the news on Instragram.
He is set to make $8.5 million in 2018 in the final year of his contract.
The former Texas Longhorns star had made it clear that if he couldn’t get a deal done with the Seahawks that he would like to join the Cowboys.
The Cowboys made trade offers at the start of free agency and during the NFL Draft but proposed no more than a third-round pick until this week.
That still wasn’t good enough for the Seahawks, who also made no attempts to get Thomas to re-join the team with a new contract extension.
The Cowboys hoped adding Thomas and his playmaking skills to the back end of the team’s young and improved defense could put them over the top.
It was certainly a natural fit with addition for former Seattle defense coordinator Kris Richard as secondary coach and defensive passing game coordinator.
Now the Cowboys will head into the season without Thomas and will a hole at safety.
Projected starter Xavier Woods at free safety will miss the season opener and maybe longer with a pulled hamstring.
Strong safeties Jeff Heath and Kavon Frazier will open as the starters against Carolina Panthers Sunday with the unproven likes of Tyree Robinson and Ibraheim Campbell backing them up.
The Cowboys can resume their pursuit of Thomas in the offseason when he will be a free agent.
This story was originally published September 5, 2018 at 11:52 AM.