Brian Schottenheimer Says Malik Hooker, P.J. Locke ‘Or’ Is Not A Dallas Cowboys Competition

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday the club believes it has three or four safeties who start in the NFL, and that the “or” between Malik Hooker and P.J. Locke on the unofficial depth chart released Tuesday reflects game plan rather than an unsettled competition.

Jalen Thompson holds the other safety spot outright. Caleb Downs is listed alone at defensive back.

“Number one, I’m going to start it a little different way. We really feel like we’ve got three or four safeties that are starters in the National Football League,” Schottenheimer said. “So I’ll start that way. P.J. and Malik, we feel are starters. JT’s a starter. Caleb Downs is listed as a DB. That’s cool. That’s what he is. He’s a DB, so nickel and safety and all that stuff. But both those guys have tremendous value. I’m talking about Malik and P.J. They’re both veterans. They both have system experience in similar systems like this, and it’s the strength of our defense in reality when you look at the bodies that we have back there.”

“But the ‘or’ just means that by game plan, we’ll do some things different,” Schottenheimer continued. “It’s no different than Cobie Durant or Shavon Revel. So it gives us flexibility, and it’s not gamesmanship or anything. That’s truly how we feel about our guys is that we’ve got good players that can do different things at different times for different reasons.”

Markquese Bell and Alijah Clark sit behind Thompson. The second “or” on the chart is at cornerback opposite DaRon Bland, between Cobie Durant and Shavon Revel Jr.

Malik Hooker, Jalen Thompson, And A Rebuilt Room

Indianapolis took Hooker 15th overall in 2017 out of Ohio State. He signed with Dallas in 2021, has been the full-time starter for the last three seasons, and started 12 games in 2025. Hooker reworked his contract in March into a one-year deal worth $5 million.

Thompson came out of Washington State in the fifth round of the 2019 supplemental draft and spent seven seasons in Arizona. Across 99 career games he has 578 tackles, 9 interceptions, and 116 interception return yards. The Cowboys signed him to a three-year contract worth $33 million on the first day of the negotiating period, hours after trading for Rashan Gary. The move reunited Thompson with Ryan Smith, who came from the Cardinals to coach the Dallas secondary.

Locke went undrafted out of Texas in 2019 and spent seven seasons in Denver. He appeared in 74 games with 23 starts through 2024, including a career-high 73 tackles that year, and posted 3 sacks in 2023. Christian Parker coached the Denver defensive backs for three of those seasons. Locke has 174 tackles and 2 interceptions in his career.

Dallas let Juanyeh Thomas leave for Tennessee and did not bring back Donovan Wilson. Five of the team’s seven draft picks went to defense, and the Cowboys added Thompson, Locke, Durant, and Gary before trading up for Downs. Dallas allowed 30.1 points per game last season, last in the league. The Cowboys also gave up 251.5 passing yards per game, which also ranked last.

Brian Schottenheimer On What P.J. Locke Brings

Locke’s value shows up on special teams as well as in the back end, and Schottenheimer said the communication is what he wants to watch Sunday.

“It’s been great. I mean, you know, Clarence asked a question about him and Malik. You know, the other thing about P.J. is P.J. is another guy that just on special teams, he just, he does everything,” Schottenheimer explained. “So he’s playing safety, he’s playing special teams. Great command back there, understands the calls. I think that’s where I’m excited to see the communication this weekend. They’re going to challenge us with different personnel groupings, a lot of big personnel groupings and just unbalanced lines and things that a Matt Nagy, Greg Roman offense do. And we’ll have to communicate well, and P.J.’s excellent at that.”

New York carried five running backs on its initial roster, including fullback Patrick Ricard, and kept four tight ends. Dallas opens Sunday at the New York Giants at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.