Cowboys safety signing named top-10 bargain of early NFL free agency

Opinions are like assassins, they sneak in without being asked and ruin people’s days. But fans rightly look to the opinions of so-called experts when trying to process new information. Not every fan has the desire, ability or time to dissect every free agent signing. Some fans barely absorb much content about their favorite team, so it’s no surprise that when a free agent is signed, they rely on the price of a signing to determine whether the player was good or not.

Was there a solid market for this guy? No? So he couldn’t be as good if teams didn’t throw bags of money at him. Others, sometimes, look to professional opinions to determine whether or not a free agent or trade target was a good acquisition. For Dallas Cowboys fans looking to get an idea of ​​what type of safety they acquired in Jalen Thompson, the latter category offers some support.

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In researching the top 10 deals, Jared Dubin of CBS Sports included former Cardinals DB Thompson in his assessment from the first week of 2026 free agency. The soon-to-be 28-year-old already has seven years in the league and Dallas signed him to three years at $11 million per season, with another three million available in incentives.

Hey look, the Cowboys signed a real free agent! Jerry Jones and company don’t typically go to market with multi-year contracts, and more importantly, they don’t typically spend double-digit millions per year to do so. But Thompson is a very versatile safety (389 snaps deep, 320 in the box and 249 in the slot last year) who should work well in new defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s system.

Also on the list were new Commander LB Leo Chenal, new Chiefs DT Khyiris Tonga, RB Keaton Mitchell and more notable names such as Mike Evans (49ers) and Nakobe Dean (Raiders).

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys FA’s signing of safety Jalen Thompson is considered a top-10 bargain.