FRISCO, Texas — After the NFL’s legal tampering window opened on Monday, linebacker Joe Thomas is set to part ways with the Dallas Cowboys. However, his move will not be far in distance.
Thomas is signing a one-year, $2 million with the Houston Texans when the new league year begins on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Over the past three seasons, Thomas has been a durable player for the Cowboys on defense and special teams. He was regarded as a special team’s player his first year and took on the role of a rotational linebacker in 2019 and 2020.
In 2020, Thomas played an increased role on defense opposite Jaylon Smith. Leighton Vander Esch suffered an injury and Thomas came in to replace LVE as the players rotated in the middle. Dallas predominately used nickel packages in 2020 with a defensive back replacing the strong-side linebacker. LVE was originally supposed to be the MIKE (middle) linebacker with Jaylon Smith as the WILL (weak side) linebacker. Things shifted when Vander Esch got hurt. Smith moved to the middle and Thomas came in as the weak side LB.
He finished the 2020 season with 43 tackles and five quarterback pressures. Overall, Thomas accumulated 95 total tackles with the Cowboys. Before signing with Dallas in 2018, Thomas spent the beginning of his career in Green Bay. He went undrafted in 2014 and played for the Packers from 2015-17, notching a career-high 70-tackle season in 2016.
Other Cowboys linebackers set to hit the open market include Sean Lee and Justin March-Lillard. Dallas has four linebackers under contract on the current roster: Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch, Francis Bernard, and Luke Gifford. The club will obviously explore options at the position in either free agency or the draft to add depth.
