'Blessed And Excited' To Be A Cowboy: The Donovan Wilson Deal That Almost Didn't Happen

In many ways, the Dallas Cowboys' bread and butter for the past couple of seasons has been defense. Owner Jerry Jones and CEO Stephen Jones both recognize that, and on March 14, they signed a big piece of that defense to keep him in Dallas.

Safety Donovan Wilson signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Cowboys, keeping him linked to the team that drafted him out of Texas A&M in the sixth round (pick 213 overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Wilson expressed nothing but gratitude and happiness when he spoke with DallasCowboys.com after the signing.

"Really, I'm just blessed and I'm excited to be around familiar faces and be back in the building," said Wilson.

But the whole thing almost didn't happen.

Wilson's representatives met with Cowboys representatives at the Senior Bowl, but the price seemed out of reach for Dallas. The Cowboys weren't sure if market value was in play regarding their pocketbook for Wilson.

But on the second day of free agency, Dallas and Wilson came to terms on the three-year agreement. The contract also includes $13.5 million in guaranteed money.

The signing was announced on the same day the Stephon Gilmore trade was completed, further shoring up the defense for what appears to be an "all-in" Super Bowl run in 2023.

"It means a lot," Wilson said. "We talk about brotherhood a lot and it was just a lot of hard work getting here and I'm just looking forward to the future."

Wilson makes up one-third of the Cowboys' "three-headed monster" which also includes safeties Jayron Kearse and Malik Hooker.

That trio, along with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn's ability to utilize them on the field at the same time in his "Big Nickel" package has helped make the Dallas defense one of the best in the league. 

And it appears it might sustain that for the foreseeable future. ... thanks in part to a Donovan deal that almost never happened.