Cowboys free agency 2023: Donovan Wilson returning to team on 3-year deal worth up to $24M

The Dallas Cowboys are on the board.

As we approach (in terms of the timing of this writing) the 24 hour mark of legal tampering in the NFL, the Cowboys have already seen two players find new homes elsewhere. Connor McGovern is headed to the Buffalo Bills and Luke Gifford is headed to the Tennessee Titans. In case you did not know we are tracking all free agency things for you right here.

While the Cowboys have yet to bring in an external free agent, they have always been about prioritizing their own. This was evident recently when they placed the franchise tag on Tony Pollard, but Pollard is no longer the only player locked in for more time at The Star.

On Tuesday morning, we got the news that safety Donovan Wilson is returning to the Cowboys on a three-year deal worth up to $24M. According to NFL Network, the first two years are fully guaranteed at $13.5M.

This is a big win for the Cowboys. Retaining Wilson has felt unlikely for all of the offseason given his stellar play this past season where he led the team in tackles and was the tone-setter for the defense.

It was last offseason when the Cowboys surprisingly kept both Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker in free agency which is also partly why keeping Wilson around felt so unlikely. We are not long removed from the Cowboys approaching the safety position in a rather cavalier way, and now here we are with them handing out three second contracts to the position in back-to-back offseasons.

The Cowboys defense has been a big reason for the team’s success over the last two seasons and Donovan Wilson is a big reason for that. It is fantastic to see him sticking around.