Cowboys' Jeff Heath: Will compete for starting role

Heath is expected to compete in camp this year for the starting strong safety spot, Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram reports. "Every time we've given him a chance to play on defense, he does something really good for our football team," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said Monday. "Makes tackles. Makes interceptions. He's just demonstrated that he's worthy to be in this conversation about competing for that starting safety spot."

Analysis:

The Cowboys have a lot of snaps to replace in their secondary after losing four defensive backs in free agency, including safeties Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox, and all signs point to Heath taking on a much larger role in his fifth NFL season. Whether he's a Week 1 starter next to Byron Jones could depend on whether the team uses an early pick this weekend on a safety, but at the moment his only real competition on the roster comes from second-year player Kavon Frazier and former Viking Robert Blanton.