Dallas Cowboys: 3 breakout players they may cut a year too early

There’s nothing worse as a fan than to watch your beloved franchise draft and develop a young player, only to give up on him a year too soon and watch him breakout somewhere else. For Dallas Cowboys fans there’s no better example than the great Jimmy Smith.

If you’re as old as me you’ll probably remember WR Jimmy Smith as a promising second round draft pick from 1992. Injuries, a deep roster, and appendicitis made him appear to be a bust early in his career so the Dallas Cowboys cut him just two years in. After a year out of the league, Jimmy went on to have a stellar career in Jacksonville, earning five Pro Bowls and accumulating over 12k receiving yards. He was peaking at the exact time Dallas was starving for a WR. It was painful to see.

The Jimmy Smith example may be an extreme case of giving up too early, but it’s a painful mistake from which we must learn and not forget. Every summer the Dallas Cowboys run the risk of cutting a promising prospect, just to see him thrive somewhere else.

Here are three Dallas Cowboys who may get cut from the team right before they breakout big in the NFL.

While we probably don’t have any dark horse Hall of Famers buried on the depth chart, we have plenty of players who have the potential to be good NFL starters. Recognizing who is worth developing and who isn’t, is not an exact science and every front office needs to balance their present needs with their future needs when making these decisions.

Let’s dive in and look at the first candidate…