How confident are you in the Cowboys pass-catching group?
This is the second in a series detailing who is currently under contract and the decisions the team has to make.
Offensive backfield and specialists review is here.
We know Dak Prescott will be back as the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Now it is time to take a look at the players who he will be throwing most of his passes to this fall, and where there might be a need for additional talent. All names taken from the latest depth chart at Ourlads.
Wide receivers
Starters: CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks
Depth: Michael Gallup, Jalen Tolbert, KaVontae Turpin, Jalen Brooks, Martavis Bryant, Jalen Cropper, David Durden, Racey McMath
Lamb and Cooks are easy. Lamb is going to get a new deal at some point, and if the team gets its act together they will do so before things drag out and animosity might set in. An extension for Lamb could net nearly $13.5 million in cap space as well. Cooks is on the final year of his deal (with two void years, one of the many cap manipulation tools team use) and will probably be allowed to play it out before the team makes any decision on him hanging around longer.
The reason for not listing the three starters the Cowboys typically use with 11 personnel is that there is a sense that Gallup will be released or possibly traded. He simply has not been a consistent producer for the team since his injury late in 2021. The team made the gamble that he would return to form with a five-year contract extension, but so far that has been a losing bet. This is the first year of his extension that they can release him and get a cap benefit, especially if he is designated a post June 1 cut. (There are those weird cap machinations again.) A trade seems very unlikely, which is not to the team’s advantage. It would be nice to get some additional draft capital for a player you are moving on from.
That would leave the WR3 job open, and even if Gallup stays in Dallas this fall, there is no guarantee he would get it. Tolbert is the leading contender for the third starter’s position, having played the most of any of the remaining WRs. KaVontae Turpin should be back with the team on the strength of his return skills. Fans keep hoping for him to be incorporated more in the offense, but his usage has been limited.
The rest of the bunch is basically the core of the annual competition for the remaining wide receiver slots on the 53-man roster. There should be at least a couple of additions at some point, probably UDFAs. Bryant, Durden, and Cropper all have been with the organization for a bit, and Brooks has the advantage being a draft pick carries with the Cowboys. Hopefully Racey McMath hangs around somehow because that is such a great name.
Should Gallup be on his way out, that at least opens up consideration of using a premium pick (day one or day two) on the position. There may be other positions where the need is seen as far more pressing. OK, there almost certainly are. With only seven picks, including none in the fourth round, Dallas does not have a lot of draft capital to spend, and may just not be able to use a premium pick on wide receiver. Free agency seems an unlikely path. But if Will McClay and his scouts should spot another Cooks out there that the team could get on the cheap, they really should be willing to make the move.
Tight ends
Starter: Jake Ferguson
Depth: Peyton Hendershot, Luke Schoonmaker, Sean McKeon, Princeton Fant, John Stephens
It has been noted that the Cowboys conducted no formal interviews with any tight ends at the NFL combine, and it is not hard to imagine that they will not add any new talent here. Ferguson has become a very good starter. Hendershot has been number two when not injured with some flashes last season, but the team is certainly hoping that Schoonmaker will take a major step forward in his second season to help salvage the very unproductive 2023 draft class. McKeon has been hard to push off the roster.
Fant is a long shot, but Stephens was turning heads prior to his injury before the start of last season. Should he come back healthy and pick up where he left off, the last TE spot on the 53 could be a heated competition. They tend to carry four to be able to use multiple TEs for blocking. The only negative thing to say about this group is that the drop off from Ferguson to the rest is more than might we want, but if the others can show some improvement, it might give Dallas the one-two punch at TE that many other teams deploy. At this early stage, this may be the strongest overall position group. That does depend on how much quality the other five guys have, but this is one of the places a bit of hope is hardly unwarranted.
These two position groups could be more of a sorting problem than anything. That is a good thing. It certainly will not hold true when we talk about the next unit in this series – the offensive line.
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