FRISCO, Texas — The stove is hot and the Dallas Cowboys are in the kitchen early to begin the 2026 NFL free agency spree. The start of legal tampering, on Monday, saw the front office strike a deal to trade for Pro Bowl edge rusher Rashan Gary, but that's not the only reunion happening, the next move involving safety Jalen Thompson.
Thompson and the Cowboys have agreed to terms on a three-year deal that immediately follows their trade for Gary.
The move reunites Thompson with Ryan Smith, the newly-named secondary coach in Dallas by way of the Arizona Cardinals, where Smith coached the 27-year-old prior to both departing in 2026. It's a ready-made fit for Thompson, thanks to Smith, and for a Cowboys' defense in need of an upgrade at the position, inclusive of Donovan Wilson currently being a free agent.
Thompson entered the NFL as the fifth-round pick of the Cardinals in 2019, after earning Second-team All-Pac-12 honors at Washington State. He has since spent the entirety of his seven-year career in the desert, signing a three-year extension in Arizona in 2022.
He has long been a starter at the professional level, taking ownership of that role in 2021, as a free safety at the time, before being moved full-time to strong safety, and that includes starting alongside Budda Baker under Smith's tutelage in 2025.
Despite his youth, Thompson has already amassed 99 total games with 87 starts — starting in 87 of the last 99 games for the Cardinals since 2021. Through that stretch, he's racked up 502 combined tackles and eight interceptions, along with eight quarterback hits.
The restructuring of Malik Hooker's contract effectively keeps him put in Dallas, and he now has a definitive counterpart going forward, as Thompson packs his bags to head east to join the Cowboys.
