Where could Earl Thomas end up? Here are five potential landing spots

It’s been a wild week, and really a wild few years, for now-free agent Earl Thomas. 

After his unceremonious exits from the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens over the past year-plus, the talented Thomas finds himself without a team — and with major questions about which other clubs might consider adding a talented player who has been let go by two Super Bowl contenders.

The 31-year-old Thomas clearly can still play, even if he’s not quite the same player he was a few years ago. What the other 30 scouting staffs in the league are now asking themselves is: Why would two strong teams — ones that are a little more liberal when it comes to dealing with character questions — want Thomas gone?

That and whether signing Thomas would be worth the risk.

That’s the biggest issue to figuring out where he will land, and we can’t rule out the idea that Thomas might have to wait a bit for a job offer to arrive … or perhaps that he might not even play this season.

That said, Thomas is a gifted enough player where some team might be willing to roll the dice for the right price. Here are five clubs we think could be most in the mix for his services:

Dallas Cowboys

Are they truly out on Thomas? A lot of well-sourced reporters are now saying that’s the case.

There sure was a lot of hedging from team owner Jerry Jones about it when asked about Thomas in Dallas, and head coach Mike McCarthy’s comments on Monday certainly seemed to pour some cold water on the idea.

But consider the trump-card option: What if Jones really wants Thomas and can get him for cheaper than expected? If so, it could be a Greg Hardy type of situation where Jones green-lights adding Thomas, going over the top to make such a signing even while others in the organization would be against the move for team-chemistry reasons.

For now, it feels like Dallas is tentatively on the outside looking in. But the franchise owner certainly could change that dynamic, and Thomas has stated his strong desire to play for his hometown team, so we’re not shutting this door at all.

Cleveland Browns

The pro-Thomas reasons here are clear.

The secondary is suddenly a mess, and they have boatloads of salary-cap space to add a big-name player if they want to. The Browns just lost talented rookie safety Grant Delpit for the season to an Achilles injury, which appears to leave Andrew Sendejo, Karl Joseph and Sheldrick Redwine as the top options at safety. Thomas represents a talent upgrade over that group.

But the anti-Thomas arguments are pretty obvious, too.

The Browns’ locker-room chemistry was a dumpster fire last season, and even if there’s a new coaching staff there, one must ask if the team wants to add a high-profile player who just was kicked off a Super Bowl contender for disciplinary reasons. The battles between the receivers and Thomas could be fun in theory, or perhaps a nightmare in reality.

Would Thomas relish joining one of the Ravens’ divisional rivals and get the opportunity to stick it to them twice this season? It’s certainly possible, and his knowledge of the Ravens’ offense might provide Cleveland some kind of edge. But the Browns need to be careful playing with fire following their tinder-box 2019 season.

San Francisco 49ers

The Richard Sherman connection likely helps matters for Thomas, giving him a strong ally and voice of support in the locker room. The 49ers also could use some help in the secondary, although it’s not as if they are bereft back there with Jimmie Ward, Jaquiski Tartt and Tarvarius Moore in tow.

The team added Johnathan Cyprien this offseason, but recent reports suggest he could be on the outs, so Thomas would certainly be an improvement over him. And with K’Waun Williams battling a calf injury, the nickel job is open for now; Ward can shift inside to that spot if needed, potentially opening up a deep-safety spot.