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Is It Earl Thomas Time Yet? Cowboys Give Another Firm Answer

Is It Earl Thomas Time Yet? Despite Dallas' Struggling Secondary, The Cowboys Brass Gives Another Firm Answer
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FRISCO - There is a football lesson in here somewhere. And a journalism lesson in here as well.

The journalism lesson as it regards street-free-agent Earl Thomas? The Dallas Cowboys once again, this time in a 38-31 loss on Sunday in Week 3 at Seattle, give us yet another reason to ask if the team wishes to reverse its course in deciding he's not needed here.

And the answer, on 105.3 The Fan on Monday, from COO Stephen Jones: "Not at this point, no. We got some guys who are coming our way in terms of guys coming off the three-week IR and really feel like with what we have in our camp right now, had a couple guys we brought on the practice squad that made some headway last week that aren't quite ready. 

"But overall feel like we got the guys on campus here ultimately that can get the job done for us."

READ MORE: Cowboys Defense: Historically Bad & Officially Dirty

So Stephen is telling you that Dallas has practice-squadders they like better than the seven-time Pro Bowler? Yup.

And then there is the football lesson, which is this: Sometimes, "football decisions'' are about more than football.

We refer back to what a source closely involved in this issue told us on Sept. 7. As we wrote it then:

READ MORE: That Earl Thomas To Cowboys Story? 'You're Wasting Your Time'

One such source with first-hand knowledge of the circumstances has been for days telling me, flatly, "No!'' regarding the Cowboys' interest in the troubled-but-talented 31-year-old Thomas, a seven-time Pro Bowler who plays safety, a glaring Dallas position of need.

I've been slow to write "No!,'' however, because my "educated guess'' is that while the door is presently shut, maybe it's not locked shut. Maybe, for instance, on some Monday morning, when Jerry sits down with his staff after a game in which his safeties got roasted, he'll ask a pointed question:

"Tell me again that Darian Thompson is better than Earl Thomas?''

Meanwhile, when a colleague reports that the team is meeting with Thomas in "the next 48 hours,'' and I can't get anybody involved to corroborate that? I don't shoot it down ... but I sure don't report it.

READ MORE: Cowboys Conduct In-House Meeting On Earl Thomas

I know for a fact that the Cowboys have discussed signing Earl Thomas, and have done so for weeks. I know that they (like the rest of the league) have discovered some unfortunate things about his behavior. I know that of The Star higher-ups most likely to want to revisit the idea down the road, Jerry Jones fits that bill.

READ MORE: Cowboys Cut Clinton-Dix: What It Says About McCarthy - And Earl Thomas

And my personal plan, I guess, is to continue to explore. Or, at least, it was, until Sept. 7, when I received a communication from a person who would know about the "situation.'' The person must remain an "unnamed source,'' but the person's direction to me is an offering I find valuable.

"You,'' this person said of my Thomas-to-Dallas persistence, "are wasting your time.''

That was true after Week 1, when Dallas lost 20-17 at the Rams. The Cowboys didn't blink. Now they are coming off a game in which they allowed five (almost) six TD passes to Seattle.

And the Cowboys still are not blinking.

The advice to quit "wasting my time''? I took it three weeks ago. I am aware of Thomas' issues and they are unpleasant. But I'm aware of how the Cowboys play pass defense and it's no picnic, either.

So I can stump for Earl Thomas, and we in the media can keep asking. But I already know the Dallas Cowboys' answer. They think our stories are a "waste of time'' because they think any pursuit of Thomas would be the same.