After nearly two weeks of window-shopping, the Cowboys finally made a move on Saturday and added a safety in free agency.
The Cowboys announced that they've agreed to terms on a one-year deal with former Bengals and Vikings starter George Iloka. The two sides liked each other so much that Iloka never even had to leave Dallas after visiting with the team Friday. The free agent safety agreed to a contract less than 24 hours after after his initial meeting with the team.
Based on his Twitter feed, the 28-year-old, who turns 29 on March 31, sounds pretty happy with his decision to sign in Dallas.
The addition of Iloka ends a dramatic 10 days for the Cowboys, who made it no secret that they were trying to land a safety in free agency. As a matter of fact, back in February, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones made it clear that he thought the team needed to add more depth at the position.
"You've obviously got (free safety) Xavier (Woods) who we're thrilled with -- young, up and coming," Jones said, via the team's official website. "Of course, Jeff (Heath) is doing a great job holding the down safety down, but then it's a little thin after that. Kavon (Frazier) was a late-round pick who was a good special teams player who can certainly play the down position. But I think we need to look at that position."
When free agency started on March 12, most Cowboys fans were hoping that the team would land Earl Thomas. Although the Cowboys were interested in the former Seahawks safety nothing ever really materialized with Thomas and that's mostly because his asking price was too high.
In the end, Thomas ended up signing with the Ravens. The Cowboys actually announced the Thomas deal on Twitter, which led to some backlash from fans, who had been hoping to see the Cowboys land Thomas.
Although the Cowboys were never really in the Thomas sweepstakes, they did visit with two other safeties in free agency. Clayton Geathers and Eric Berry both made trips to Dallas, but the Cowboys weren't able to work out a deal with either player. Geathers ended up re-signing with the Colts while Berry is currently still a free agent.
As for Iloka, he ends up being a pretty solid fallback plan for the Cowboys. During his final five seasons with the Bengals, the safety was almost always healthy and started in a total of 76 out of 80 games for Cincinnati from 2013 to 2017. In 2018, Iloka signed with the Vikings and played in all 16 games for Minnesota. The 2012 fifth-round pick has totaled nine interceptions, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his career.