Cowboys undrafted TE Brevyn Spann-Ford reportedly among highest-paid UDFAs

The Cowboys reportedly made UDFA TE Brevyn Spann-Ford one of the highest-paid UDFAs.

The Dallas Cowboys have come under fire this offseason for refusing to spend. For the most part the purse strings have been rather tight around The Star when it comes to dabbling in players on the open market. This is hardly exclusive to this offseason though as this is a disposition that we have seen from the team year in and year out at this point.

Along patterns of familiar behavior lies one area where the Cowboys run counter to this very philosophy. History has shown that Dallas will absolutely spend big (relatively speaking) in one particular area – undrafted free agency.

Stephen Jones loves to refer to the undrafted players as “college free agents” and whether their own franchise’s success in that sector of team building has anything to do with it or not, the Cowboys have shown absolutely no fear in paying up for a player who they do not want to lose.

It appears that they paid top money for one member of this year’s class.

The Cowboys reportedly made TE Brevyn Spann-Ford among the highest-paid undrafted free agents

On Wednesday, the Cowboys’ undrafted free agency class was finalized (you can see the whole list right here) and among the crop was Minnesota tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford.

According to The Draft Network’s Justin Melo, the Cowboys made Spann-Ford among the highest-paid undrafted free agents out there.

The resources we are talking about here are not significant with regards to draft capital or the salary cap. The Cowboys should absolutely pay up to secure players who they want to ensure are on their roster and if they value Spann-Ford that much, then so be it.

What merits discussion is that the Cowboys likely view Spann-Ford in such a light that it stands to reason that he will make the team, no? Follow the money as they say.

It has been very interesting to watch how the Cowboys have handled the tight end position in a post-Jason Witten world and we have seen them throw different types of serious resources at it. Jake Ferguson, the team’s starter and one of the better tight ends in the NFL, was a fourth-round pick just two years ago and one year after he emerged (when Dalton Schultz had just walked after playing on the franchise tag) the Cowboys spent a second-round pick on Luke Schoonmaker.

Given Ferguson’s success and Schoonmaker’s pedigree, their spots on the roster are obviously not in any jeopardy at all, but connecting dots here it seems like Spann-Ford could be coming for Peyton Hendershot who was an undrafted free agent himself not too long ago.

There is also the matter of John Stephens Jr. who impressed throughout camp and the early part of the preseason last year before being lost to injury.

Again, the Cowboys committing $245k to Spann-Ford is hardly a neon sign sort of guarantee, but it is sizable enough to suggest that he is closer to a helmet with a star on it than his fellow UDFAs. We will see throughout all of training camp and the preseason.