$24 Million Safety Named Cowboys ‘Most Underrated’ Player

After Malik Hooker tore his Achilles tendon in 2020 with the Indianapolis Colts, the future looked dim for the former first round pick. It’s the kind of injury that could not just derail but end the career of a hard hitting, speedy safety.

In a testament to Hooker’s toughness and willpower, he worked his way back into becoming not just a starting safety, but a highly paid one with the Dallas Cowboys, where he eventually signed a 3-year, $24 million contract extension in August 2023.

Ahead of the 2025 season, PFF’s Jonathan Macri named Hooker as the “Most Underrated Player” on the Cowboys’ roster — one of the more fitting picks out of all 32 NFL teams.

“Hooker took over as a starting safety in 2022 and never looked back, playing nearly 3,000 defensive snaps over that span,” Macri wrote on May 14. “He has earned a top-10 PFF run-defense grade (89.3) and a top-20 PFF overall grade (78.8) at the position since 2022. Hooker is once again set to be the Cowboys’ reliable deep safety in Matt Eberflus’ defense in 2025 and should continue to provide a solid return on the team’s investment in him.”

Hooker showed he is his own type of anomaly in 2024, playing every game in the regular season for the first time at 28 year old — 17 starts in 17 games — along with 81 tackles, 2 interceptions and 5 pass deflections.

The Path: National Champion, All-American, First Round Pick

Hooker came out of New Castle (Pennsylvania) High School as a 3-star recruit in 2014, won a BCS National Championship as a special teams standout in 2015, earned unanimous All-American honors as a starting free safety in 2016 and was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft by the Colts.

“His instincts are always bringing him to the football and when he gets there he has the ball skills to take it away,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote before the 2017 draft. ” … his ability to flip the field is worthy of an aggressive projection. He has the talent to be a high-impact starter for years in the NFL.”

Injuries limited Hooker to just 7 games as a rookie but he became a full time starter in 2018 and had 7 interceptions through his first 3 seasons before he tore his Achilles tendon.

Hooker found a home with the Cowboys as a backup safety on a 1-year, $920,000 contract in 2021 and only started 9 games over his first 2 seasons before becoming a full time starter in 2023 after he signed his $24 million contract extension.

Uncertainty for Cowboys in Secondary Moving Forward

While Hooker is a steady, financially feasible option moving forward – he’s due approximately $12.7 million over the final 2 years of his contract — and adds some certainty to a secondary that could be in flux after 2025.

That’s because the Cowboys have a pair of All-Pro cornerbacks in Daron Bland, who is headed into the final year of a 4-year, $3.97 million rookie contract and the chronically injured Trevon Diggs, who still has 4 years left on a 5-year, $97 million contract extension that runs through 2028.

Want to add more drama/confusion to the mix? The Cowboys drafted an elite cornerback in the 2025 NFL draft with East Carolina cornerback Shavon Revel in the third round (No. 76 overall).