The Cowboys’ wide receiver room is looking thin – and there isn’t any help on the way.
During Monday’s practice, James Washington suffered a fractured foot that will keep him out for six to eight weeks. On top of that, Michael Gallup is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered in January and will miss at least the first game of the season. That leaves CeeDee Lamb as the only receiver left on the roster who has caught a touchdown pass from Dak Prescott.
The situation wouldn’t be so dire if not for the Cowboys trading Amari Cooper to the Browns in the offseason. Even worse, they only received a fifth-round pick and swapped sixth-rounders with Cleveland. They did so, in part, to save cap space – yet now have over $22 million in space for 2022 after failing to spend it, per Over The Cap.
Even in such a difficult situation, Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones, has decided to get reinforcements internally and stay out of free agency.
“Let’s give these young guys the incentive, our young receivers,” Jones said. “We thought highly of them when we came out. We’ll get [Washington] rehabbed… But it doesn’t create an urgency for us to add a veteran receiver. We like these young guys.”
The Cowboys have some young talent from the draft they can pivot towards to fill the gaping receiver holes. Jalen Tolbert was drafted in the third round of the 2022 draft and Simi Fehoko, who was taken in the fifth round in 2021. Behind them, they have undrafted free agents Dennis Houston, Jaquarii Roberson, Ty Fryfogel, T.J. Vasher, Dontario Drummond, and Brandon Smith, who they have accumulated in the last two years. Last week, they also signed the leading receiver from the USFL, KaVontae Turpin.
“We talk about growth, we talk about draft and develop, here it is,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “This is what it’s all about. Each and every team that I’ve ever been the head coach of, there’s always some level of projection and growth that has to occur, so the only way to get there is through these training camp practices. So you don’t wait until the preseason games to start that process. You don’t wait to give them opportunities really in the season. So this is what it looks like. It’s unfortunate that James was injured, but it’s really opportunity for these young players to step up.”
Lamb, for his part, said he wouldn’t be opposed to the addition of a veteran receiver. The likes of Odell Beckham Jr. and Emmanuel Sanders are still on the market, but Lamb also is confident in the youth they have on the team and their ability to rise to the challenge.
“I mean I’m not opposed to having another vet in here,” Lamb said. “I’m never against having help, but I like my young guys here now. I want to see what they can do in the heat of battle, and then we got Tampa in September. There’s only one way to find out.
“The door is open for opportunity. I feel like the younger guys are taking that opportunity and trying to do something.”
The Cowboys will hope that this year’s receiver situation could emulate an outcome that their 2016 quarterback situation produced. That year, they lost backup quarterback Kellen Moore and decided to roll with their fourth-round pick, Dak Prescott, instead of signing a new backup. Then, starter Tony Romo ended up going down with a back injury in the preseason, and Prescott has run away with the starting job ever since.
“We like these young guys,” Jones said. “We’d already been looking ahead, and we were going to have some trouble cutting our numbers at receiver because we’ve liked the way some of these guys are starting to show. But we’ve got a lot of work still to do.”