NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Wentz

The Cowboys didn’t spend lavishly on the safety position this offseason, but they did consider taking a safety in the second round, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star Telegram. Ultimately, they used their second round choice to grab defensive tackle Trysten Hill and did not address safety until the sixth round when they selected Texas A&M’s Donovan Wilson.

Here’s more on the Cowboys’ safety situation and more from the NFC East:

• Through the first three weeks of OTAs, incumbent Jeff Heath is still ahead of newcomer George Iloka on the Cowboys‘ depth chart, according to Hill. Iloka was brought in to unseat Heath but, so far, that hasn’t happened.
• For now, Carson Wentz‘s new deal looks to be a win-win for the Eagles and the quarterback, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Wentz netted upwards of $100MM in guarantees in the deal, but given the expected climb in the salary cap, it could quickly prove to be an under-market deal for Philly. At the same time, the new money average of $32MM is pretty high considering that Wentz has suffered season ending injuries in two consecutive Decembers. For reference, under the new money metric, Wentz trails only Russell Wilson ($35MM), Ben Roethlisberger ($34MM), and Aaron Rodgers ($32.5MM).
• The Wentz deal is an aggressive one for the Eagles, but not a reckless one, Tim McManus of ESPN.com argues. The Eagles believe that they’ll save millions on the back end of the deal if Wentz returns to his MVP-caliber level of performance, though they know that it could backfire miserably if his injury issues creep up again. McManus also notes that Wentz could have been difficult through a long and drawn-out negotiating process, so there was plenty of reason to get a deal done now instead of kicking the can down the road.