Report: Former Raiders safety Obi Melifonwu is visiting Cowboys

The Cowboys are on a bye week, and apparently they have decided that this is the perfect time to adjust their personnel. First, Dallas made a surprisingly aggressive move by trading their 2019 first-rounder for two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper. It was a bold decision that could pay dividends for this offense.

It appears that the Cowboys may not be done looking for additions to its roster. Ian Rapoport is reporting that former Raiders safety and 2017 second-round pick Obi Melifonwu is visiting the Cowboys on Thursday.

Melifonowu, the 56th pick of the 2017 draft, took advantage of his freakish combination of size, 4.4 speed, and jumping ability to improve his draft stock ahead of the draft. The former UConn Huskies defensive back, and former teammate of Cowboys cornerback Byron Jones, possesses rare traits that give him a lot of potential.

Unfortunately, the physically gifted defensive back has had trouble staying healthy during his young career, battling injury after injury. The Raiders placed Melifonowu on injured-reserve back in August due to a lower body injury.

The Raiders waived Melifonwu with an injury designation during the preseason, and he reverted to injured reserve after clearing waivers. The team had hoped someone would claim him.

He started only one game as a rookie and played just four other games last season. Melifonwu first dealt with a knee problem and then a hip injury landed him on injured reserve.

Now, Oakland has waived him, and he went unclaimed. Our friends over at Silver and Black Pride wrote that this could mean that the once highly-coveted prospect is looking to play in 2018.

If I were a Raiders drafted player from 2014 to 2017, I’d be feeling pretty uneasy right about now. Monday saw 2015 first round pick Amari Cooper traded to the Cowboys. Tuesday saw 2017 second round pick safety Obi Melifonwu waived from the team’s injured reserve.

This move suggests that Melifonwu was healthy and is looking to try and play this season. He had been waived/injured before the season and no team signed him, which placed him on injured reserve. He has had three major injuries in two seasons with the team and appeared in just five games with one start.

If Melifonowu is healthy, this could be an intriguing option for the Cowboys. We know that there is not much depth at safety on this team, and it is no secret that Kris Richard loves big, physical DBs. Melifonowu, 6-foot-3 and 224-pounds, certainly fits that profile.

It is a little ironic that this is yet another Raiders player that the Cowboys have had interest in, as our own RJ Ochoa pointed out that the two teams have already made three deals in the second Jon Gruden era. Will the former second-round selection be joining his former teammates, Byron Jones and Amari Cooper? We shall see.

UPDATE: The Cowboys are also looking at another defensive back.