Yahoo Sports Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy pours some cold water on Earl Thomas-to-Dallas speculation
When the Baltimore Ravens parted ways with Earl Thomas this weekend, there was rampant speculation over where the All-Pro safety might end up.
One team typically atop most of those lists: the Dallas Cowboys.
That’s because the Cowboys and Thomas have been linked for years, including his famous “Come get me” line on Christmas Eve 2017, even if that was delivered to former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter even said the Cowboys were one of the leading contenders to sign Thomas now that he’s free.
Does that mean Thomas is on his way to Dallas? Well, if so, new Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is playing some damned good poker.
Check out what McCarthy had to say about the possibility of adding Thomas to the roster:
“The conversations I’ve been involved with — we had a chance to get a thorough personnel meeting just two days ago — we’re very confident in where we are as far as the 80-man roster,” McCarthy said. “As far as any prospect that’s available, those are more conversations for Jerry [Jones], Stephen [Jones] and Will McClay, as far as looking at that situation. So I have nothing really to report.”
So McCarthy didn’t exactly say Thomas wasn’t coming. But he surely didn’t encourage a welcoming party with that quote either.
Parsing Mike McCarthy’s Earl Thomas answer
McCarthy was famous in Green Bay for not really saying much on prospective personnel moves — or on other matters, for that matter.
But don’t take that as a sign of apathy, either. McCarthy said he’s well aware of Thomas’ availability and that it has been a topic of discussion around The Star.
“I’ve talked to both [Jerry and Stephen Jones] about it. We talk about everything,” McCarthy said. “We read the news, too. You may not think we read your guys’ articles or stay on top of things. We look at every situation. Player acquisition is 365 days a year.”
The Ravens cut Thomas on Saturday for conduct detrimental to the team. The Ravens’ player leadership council appeared to back the move, too, interestingly.
Thomas can still play, with Pro Football Focus grading him out as the league’s highest-rated safety since 2015. Even though he had a rough playoff game in the loss to the Tennessee Titans, Thomas remains a top-tier talent at age 31 — and the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers (where he’d team up with former Seahawks secondary mate, Richard Sherman) reportedly also are interested in his services.
Is Dallas in play? It’s certainly possible, even if McCarthy appeared to downplay the idea.
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