The Dallas Cowboys safety situation has been, like much of the team in 2020, a dumpster fire. It’s a position that the front office obviously doesn’t believe needs any resources and can rely on a hodge-podge group of players to fill and hopefully get replacement level play out of them.
Steven Parker is the next man up. After being called up from the practice squad in two consecutive weeks, the powers that be decided to make a more formal move, promoting him to the roster full time after appearing in the last two games.
Cowboys are signing S Steven Parker from practice squad to 53-man roster, source said. Parker has made a real impression on coaches. Wasn’t in camp but earned snaps in favor of some who were. This keeps him on field without exposing him to waivers; team elevated him twice off PS.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 22, 2020
Parker spent the entirety of 2019 with the Miami Dolphins and he’ll be fighting for playing time with Donovan Wilson and Darian Thompson, neither of whom have managed to distinguish themselves on the back end. His two career interceptions, neither with the Cowboys of course, are more than Wilson and Thompson combined.
On the bright side, this might be a sign that head coach Mike McCarthy isn’t satisfied with a position that the Jones family has been somehow happy with for a long time. In the off-season he brought in former charge HaHa Clinton-Dix, who performed so badly in camp he was cut. He benched the aforementioned Thompson one drive into Week 4.
Xavier Woods led Cowboys safeties in Week 6 snaps with 62 (100%) while Wilson had 54. Parker and Thompson each had eight defensive snaps.
McCarthy might finally be the man who forces the hand that feeds him to nab him a safety who can actually make plays on the back end. Here’s to wishful thinking.
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