Editor’s note: This article was originally published Feb. 6, 2019. We’re bringing this post back because the Baltimore Ravens released Earl Thomas on Sunday, opening the door, once again, for the veteran safety to potentially join the Dallas Cowboys.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you’re probably aware of Earl Thomas’ preference to play for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys have played coy for the most part, doing their best to avoid tampering charges from the NFL. However, rumors did circulate that Dallas was willing to fork over a second-round pick for Thomas in September.

Unless Seattle throws a wrench into the situation in the form of a franchise or transition tag, there is every reason to believe Dallas will be heavily interested in the Orange native once he hits the open market in March -- especially after his two-interception performance against Dallas in Week 3.

The only real question is whether the Cowboys’ front office can come to terms on a contract with Thomas before another team can steal him away. Those waters get muddied a bit considering Thomas will soon be 30 years old and is coming off his second season-ending leg injury in three years.

Having said that, there’s no question Dallas is the odds-on favorite to land the University of Texas product once free agency begins in March.

Committing serious money to a veteran who has recently dealt with a rash of leg injuries is a risky proposition. Yet, Thomas is worth this risk.

The Cowboys’ defense was very good in 2018, finishing ninth in DVOA, seventh in yards allowed per game, sixth in points allowed per game, 16th in takeaways and 27th in third-down conversion percentage. The addition of Thomas can provide a major boost to Dallas’ defense, upgrading the unit from very good in 2018 to potentially elite in 2019.

The biggest thing that held the 2018 defense back was the lack of interceptions created by the secondary, as Dallas finished the season with just nine interceptions -- 26th in the NFL.

Xavier Woods is a good (with the potential to be great) deep safety, but he has not yet reached the point in his development where he can consistently create turnover opportunities for the defense.

Thomas, on the other hand, is the epitome of a playmaker as a deep safety. And it’s the main reason he’s been the premier deep safety in football since 2013 -- taking the mantel from future Hall of Famer Ed Reed. Thomas ranks third in interceptions with 28 since entering the league in 2010.

The main reason Thomas excels as a playmaker is his next-level ability to read, identify and diagnose what an offense is trying to do. In a world where offenses are doing everything they can to fool a defense -- whether it be by alignment, pre-snap motion, play action or unique route combinations -- Thomas is the NFL’s Sherlock Holmes.

When combined with his 4.43 speed, Thomas’ diagnostic ability puts him in position to immediately react to an offense, allowing him to impact more plays than any other deep safety in the NFL. Here’s a great example:

Earl Thomas INT vs HOU. pic.twitter.com/86c3mA1PwJ — All22Hype (@All22Hype) February 5, 2019

Here, it’s third and 10 from Seattle’s own 29-yard line. The Seahawks are playing a middle-of-the-field-open (MOFO) coverage, which indicates Cover 2/4 with Thomas aligned as the deep safety to the near side of the field. Seattle is in a Cover 2 Man concept, which is also referred to as Cover 5, where the linebackers and cornerbacks play man coverage while the safeties split the deep zones.

Once the ball is snapped, Thomas quickly reads the eyes of Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson before turning his attention toward DeAndre Hopkins, who is running a vertical concept from the slot. As soon as he sees Hopkins start to work across the middle, Thomas makes a plus-break on Watson’s pass which leads to a pick-six.

Typically, when facing any Cover 2 variant, the middle of the field can be easily taken advantage of because of the natural hole between zones created by split safeties, and that’s exactly what the Texans expected in the video above.

When Watson received the snap, he attempted to use his eyes to widen Thomas by glancing at the tight end running an out route to the near-side boundary. Unfortunately for Watson, Thomas wasn't fooled, as he knows that Watson loves to target Hopkins on third down.

Thomas’ keen understanding of an offense’s tendencies makes him incredibly difficult to fool because he’s rarely out of position. Despite the fact that Thomas typically lines up as a deep safety, his football intelligence and diagnostic ability allow him to make plays all over the field, even if it’s outside his given responsibility. Here’s a great example:

On this play, Thomas is aligned 14 yards off the line of scrimmage as Seattle’s deep safety in a middle-of-the-field-closed (MOFC) defense -- which is an indicator of Cover 1/3. Seattle appears to be playing a Cover 1 (man coverage with a safety guarding the deep middle) concept against Los Angeles’ 11 personnel.

As soon as the ball is snapped, Thomas reads Rams quarterback Jared Goff’s eyes scanning the near side of the field and immediately bursts toward the near-side boundary, staying flat so he can defend Todd Gurley’s wheel route out of the backfield if needed.

However, pressure forces Goff to hold the ball as he attempts the escape the pocket toward the sideline. As soon as he sees Goff break the pocket and divert his eyes from Gurley to Sammy Watkins on the shallow crosser, Thomas immediately bursts downhill, cuts off the shallow cross and eliminates Goff's throwing window to Watkins.

From there, Thomas continues working downhill at an angle, which prevents Watkins from uncovering as Thomas continues to pursue the Rams quarterback. Goff tries to soft-toss a pass to Watkins near the sideline, but Thomas is in perfect position to deflect the pass, rendering it incomplete and the play unsuccessful for the offense. It was an incredible display of range and diagnostic ability from the All-Pro safety.

Earl Thomas has ungodly range. pic.twitter.com/bGGpf3SzQd — Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) November 9, 2017

Most NFL safeties only make plays within their responsibility, but Thomas is a unique safety who can make plays outside of his responsibility on any given play. Some call this freelancing, which is risky considering Thomas must vacate his zone to impact the play. However, the risk is mitigated by Thomas’ ability to read and diagnose the offense’s play concept. He understands when he can and can’t take chances freelancing in the secondary.

This is one of the main reasons the addition of Thomas would provide a boost to the Cowboys’ defense. Even when teams try to avoid targeting Thomas, he’s still able to make an impact because he’s able to affect plays outside his given responsibility.

The addition of Thomas would force Woods to compete with Jeff Heath for the starting strong safety job. And while Woods would be a slight downgrade from Heath defending the run, he is a major upgrade in coverage, which should make him the favorite to win the position battle. If Woods won, it would allow Heath to totally focus on what he does best: special teams.

With Thomas and Woods as the starting safeties, Dallas would have one of the best coverage safety duos in the NFL, making it even more difficult for offenses to beat the Cowboys deep.

The Cowboys came up short against the Rams in the divisional playoffs in 2018 and everyone has affixed their gaze onto the offense in hopes that improvement there can get the Cowboys over the hump and into the Super Bowl.

But what if an improved defense did the trick? The Cowboys’ defense is on the precipice of becoming elite, and Thomas’ presence could push the unit over the top.

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