Donovan Wilson spent his entire NFL career in a Cowboys uniform, and now he's auditioning for a new one. Adam Schefter reported Wilson was working out for the Seahawks on Wednesday, and the connection isn't random — Seattle's defensive coordinator Aden Durde coached Wilson back in Dallas before jumping to the Pacific Northwest.
Adam Schefter broke the news that Wilson was in Seattle working out, with Durde's Dallas ties front and center.
Former Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson is working out today for the Seahawks. Seattle’s defensive coordinator Aden Durde coached Wilson in Dallas.
Durde spent three seasons as the Cowboys' defensive line coach before Seattle scooped him up as defensive coordinator in 2024 under Mike Macdonald. He's the guy credited with helping develop Micah Parsons into a monster off the edge, and he just won Super Bowl LX with the Seahawks in February. That's the pitch here: a coach who knows exactly what Wilson can do, now running a defense that just won it all.
Wilson's path to a workout says a lot about where he's at. He played out the 3-year, $21 million deal he signed with Dallas before the 2023 season and hit free agency in March without a landing spot. He started all 15 games he played for the Cowboys last season, but it wasn't pretty — Pro Football Focus had him graded near the bottom of the league at the position, 88th out of 98 eligible safeties. That's the kind of tape that makes teams hesitant, even for a guy who was a full-time starter.
So this workout is less about star power and more about fit. Durde already has the scouting report memorized — he doesn't need three weeks of film study to know what Wilson brings against the run or where he struggles in coverage. For a Super Bowl-winning defense looking to add competent, cheap depth at safety, a familiar face who knows the terminology is a low-risk swing.
Nothing's signed yet, and workouts don't always turn into contracts. But if Seattle likes what it sees, the fastest way for Wilson to save his career might be reuniting with the one coach who already believed in him once.