Will

Allen

His thumb is still in a splint but he should be ready for Week 1.

Allen is still expected to start for Tampa and be ready well before Week 1.

Tampa returns 21 starters from last season, with Allen being the only newbie. He knows the Tampa system well and their free safety has put up decent numbers in the past.

When Polamalu first went down, the Steelers started Ryan Mundy. That didn’t work out, so they turned to the veteran special teamer Allen. He’s responded as a run-stuffer, recording 22 tackles in the last four games.

Allen, 31 on Monday, signed a one-year deal in March, and he has 33 career starts under his belt through nine seasons. The veteran will face competition from second-year S Matt Johnson, but Johnson wasn’t overly impressive in OTAs and minicamp. Barry Church has a firm grip on the strong safety spot.

Free agent FS Michael Huff was also in town, but he didn’t undergo a medical screening. The Cowboys have zero wiggle room under the salary cap, so a deal for either player is unlikely to happen right now.

The Cowboys are starting to get in on the action a little bit now that it’s dumpster-diving season on the free-agent market. Durant, 28, started 14 games for the Lions last season and racked up 103 tackles. Allen, 31 in June, started seven games for the Steelers and registered 34 tackles and three pass breakups.

The Cowboys have their veteran safety, and it isn’t Michael Huff. Allen, who started seven games a year ago while filling in for an injured Troy Polamalu, will at least push Matt Johnson for the starting free safety job. Johnson missed his entire rookie year due to hamstring injuries while Allen has 130 games of NFL experience.

Although Johnson missed his entire rookie year with recurring hamstring woes, the Cowboys remain high on him. They are bringing Will Allen in to compete, but he’ll ideally be the third safety and play on special teams.

Your Cowboys starting safeties are Allen and Barry Church, who’s coming off a torn Achilles’. It’s a huge weakness for a defense that figures to play an awful lot of two-deep safety looks under Tampa 2 guru Monte Kiffin. They still drafted middle-round projected pick Travis Frederick at No. 31 overall, with Johnathan Cyprien and Matt Elam on the board. The Jags and Ravens are grateful.