The Dallas Cowboys appears to finally be emerging from the dark cloud vast by a flurry of injuries. But the good news may come at the expense of another player who could lose his place on the suddenly-overcrowded Dallas roster. According to analyst Nick Halden of the site SportDFW, which covers the Cowboys and other Dallas-area pro sports franchises, seven-year veteran safety Donovan Wilson could be on his way out.
The good news for the Cowboys came in the form of center Cooper Beebe who is reportedly activated from injured reserve, where he had spent the season since Week Three with an ankle injury, after cornerback Caelen Carson came off the list to make his 2025 debut last week.
Wilson’s Roster Spot May be in Jeopardy
But all such moves have downsides. When a player is activated to the 53-man roster that means another player must come off, provided the team does not already have an open roster spot. While there are several candidates to be cut, or sent to the practice squad, according to Halden a new one emerged on Thursday when Wilson appeared on the team’s injury report, missing practice with what the team described as an “elbow/shoulder” injury.
Wilson also missed practice Wednesday, and appears to have been dealing with the injury issue since the Cowboys’ Week Six loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Last Sunday, against the Washington Commanders, Wilson played through the injury but despite being on the field for 97 percent of his team’s defensive snaps, managed only one solo tackle, a season low.
Only 6 Safties Lower-Ranked Than Wilson
Along with cornerback Trevon Diggs, who is in concussion protocol after a mysterious “accident” at his home, Wilson was one of just two names on the Cowboys’ injury report Thursday.
But according to Halden, Wilson was already playing poorly, and his absence may be a kind of blessing in disguise — and could even be the “beginning of the end” for the 2019 sixth-round draft pick’s tenure in Dallas.
“There’s a real chance that this injury kicks off the beginning of the end for Wilson’s time as a Cowboys starter. Juanyeh Thomas is back at practice, and he and Markquese Bell appear to be in line to get the start at the safety position if Wilson is held out in Week Eight,” Halden wrote.
The SportsDFW scribe also also pointed out that with a Pro Football Focus grade of 47.8, Wilson “ranks among the league’s worst at the position.”
Specifically, PFF ranks Wilson 77th out of 83 NFL safeties.
“It seems that having played for the team for the last seven seasons is the only thing keeping the starter in the current lineup. If Wilson were a first-year player or a piece without any history with the franchise, there is zero question that he would already have been benched,” Halden wrote.
Wilson is playing the final season of a four-year, $21 million contract, meaning that the Cowboys are likely to let him go after the season is over — unless they cut him earlier to create a roster spot for one of the players coming off injured reserve.
