With Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson’s new contracts, Jayron Kearse’s future in question

Over the last few months, the Dallas Cowboys have agreed to new contracts with safeties Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson. What could this mean for the third member of the triumvirate, Jayron Kearse, and his upcoming free agency in 2024?

Back in March, Wilson’s rookie deal expired and he received a new three-year, $21 million contract to stay in Dallas. The $7 million average bumped the former sixth-round pick’s compensation significantly; he counted $996k against the Cowboys’ salary cap in 2022.

Just last week, Hooker got a three-year extension that also upped his salary. Making $3.5 million a year on his previous deal, he’s now earning $8 million per season through 2026.

Before now, Kearse was the highest-paid member of Dallas’ safety trio. The two-year deal he signed last spring averaged $5 million per season. But now he’s at the bottom and on an expiring contract. With the Cowboys now paying Hooker and Wilson more, can they afford to re-sign Kearse and keep this three-headed safety beast intact?

To put this in perspective, Dallas’ total overhead at safety is not as bad as you might think. None of their guys are making elite money; Derwin James alone is making $19 million per year from the Chargers. While the Cowboys now may not have any superstars in this group, they enjoy quality starters, depth, and flexibility for the price of one.

Given that, the Cowboys’ could easily justify paying Kearse about $7-$8 million per year like his teammates and keep the trio together. While they certainly have other big contract concerns coming with QB Dak Prescott, LB Micah Parsons, and WR CeeDee Lamb, the safety position is no small thing in Dan Quinn’s defense and Dallas’ current rotation has been one of its strengths the last two years.

But even if the money is there, will Dallas want to invest more into Kearse as he gets older? He turns 30 in February, making him the oldest member of the safety trio. With prospects like Markquese Bell and Juanyeh Thomas in the pipeline, could the Cowboys decide to save money and go younger?

There’s a certain redundancy between Kearse and Wilson as well. Both are more the traditional “strong” safeties, bigger and better closer to the line of scrimmage. Kearse has also been doing a lot of work in a hybrid linebacker role on passing downs, which Bell or Thomas have the size to handle. There’s also hope that true linebackers like DeMarvion Overshown and Jabril Cox will be able to handle more of that work.

Clearly, Kearse needs to have a strong 2023 season to render all of this moot. The Cowboys can afford to keep him but may have mitigating factors that could prompt them to allocate money elsewhere. His veteran leadership and on-field impact have to come through in ways that make him too valuable to lose.

With bigger fish to fry among their current contract issues, Dallas may not deal with Jayron Kearse until the 2024 offseason. We’ll see how this season unfolds and what sort of leverage it either gives or denies Kearse when he hits free agency. At this time, though, his future feel more uncertain than most of his teammates.