Should the Dallas Cowboys be interested in old Dan Quinn safety Keanu Neal?

The Dallas Cowboys took care of the most pressing matter on their team this week when they finally wised up and paid Dak Prescott. A two-year long saga ended when terms were agreed to and now other matters can be tended to.

With $15.5M suddenly available to throw into the free agency pool by way of Dak’s new deal, the Cowboys would be wise to start spending on the defensive side of the ball. The expectation is certainly that there will not be any issue scoring points, but stopping other teams has been an issue that needs to be addressed.

A key point of emphasis that many Cowboys fans have been singing about for many years now (besides locking down Dak) has been the safety position. Dallas has gone on for far too long without finding a legitimate playmaker there and an old friend of Dan Quinn’s is suddenly going to be available.

Should the Cowboys be interested in old Dan Quinn safety Keanu Neal?

Keanu Neal has been set to become a free agent this offseason as the Atlanta Falcons took him in the first round back during the 2016 NFL Draft. The only thing that was potentially standing in the way of him hitting the open market was the franchise tag and on Tuesday it was reported that Atlanta will not be doing that.

PFF graded Neal as the 33rd-best safety in the league last year so it was hardly a performance that generated a ton of attention. To be fair to Neal, he played a combined four games from 2018-2019 so last season was his first bit of full-time action in a while.

Speaking of PFF, they project Neal to earn a two-year deal averaging $5M per season. Considering that his best days were spent operating within the defensive scheme that Dan Quinn used with the Atlanta Falcons and is bringing back to the Dallas Cowboys, it stands to reason that a roll of the dice here is worth legitimate consideration.

Keanu Neal isn’t the final infinity stone for this defense by any means - no player on the open market is - but he would provide an option at the safety position that the team is lacking at the moment.

Dallas is entering an offseason where Xavier Woods is a free agent. Assuming that they let him walk, they are really only going to have Donovan Wilson to rely on as far as starters are concerned. It would be irresponsible of them to not find help in free agency and Neal is an obvious dot to connect with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.