With the Dallas Cowboys and the impending offseason, every little bit will help. It might be like moving the deck
chairs on the Titanic. The team will not only need to reassess its strategy following yet another massive postseason
collapse, but it also probably has to provide very huge new contracts to the players who caused the collapse. In light
of this, the contract analysts at Spotrac are advising the Cowboys to hold off on making a trade for Jalen Tolbert in
order to save roughly a million dollars.
The team selected Tolbert in the third round of the 2022 draft. Although he showed signs of being ready to play as
the No. 2 wide receiver at times during the season, quarterback Dak Prescott never seemed to trust him, and he
ended up finishing with 22 receptions on 36 targets for 268 yards.
Tolbert was just 103rd out of 128 graded receivers this season with a Pro Football Focus score of 56.5.
Moving Tolbert might aid the Cowboys, who are in severe need of cap room, according to Spotrac. The website
included the following as “cap-clearing possibilities”: “Trade WR Jalen Tolbert, freeing up $943k of cap.” Although
Tolbert has demonstrated he can play WR2 in some situations, the Cowboys cannot afford to wait around.
The Cowboys’ efforts to control their payroll as the extensions for Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, and edge
rusher Micah Parsons approach might include trading for Tolbert.
It was a bit of a roller coaster at times, but the Cowboys secured another NFC East crown with a strong finish down
the line, as Spotrac’s Mike Ginnitti noted. Though there are a few free agency gaps to fill and a possible cap casualty
or two, this offseason will primarily be devoted to taking care of their own, namely QB Dak Prescott, WR CeeDee
Lamb, and ED Micah Parsons. Dallas has about $11 million less cap room heading into the offseason than it did
before.
However, as the playoffs started, things only got worse, and the roller coaster kept going with a huge collapse in the
defeat to Green Bay. The Cowboys find themselves in a difficult situation where they must give credit to players who,
despite their historic playoff collapses, were among the best in the league during the regular season.
Tolbert may not be the right person to blame for the Cowboys’ shortcomings, but he did not have the successful
return that many had anticipated after a difficult rookie campaign in which he had the chance to prove he was a
third-round pick. Lamb will stay with the Cowboys, of course, but there may be receiving changes as neither Michael
Gallup nor Brandin Cooks have shown to be elite No. 2 receivers.
Actually, Spotrac is recommending that the Cowboys choose Gallup for a June release as well.
The website stated, “Either process a full base salary conversion, freeing up $5.9M when factoring in 2 void years, or
designate WR Michael Gallup a Post 6/1 release ($9.5M freed up after June 1st).”
The Cowboys will have an opening after that and moving Tolbert. However, given their current financial situation,
their options may be limited.
Veteran sports writer Sean Deveney works for Heavy.com, covering the NBA and NFL. With over 20 years of NBA
coverage experience, including 17 years as the lead NBA correspondent for Sporting News, he has been writing for
Heavy since 2019. A writer of seven nonfiction books, Deveney is the author of “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became
Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.”
