Should the Dallas Cowboys re-sign Dalton Schultz right now?

Both sides may be a little nervous right now. The Dallas Cowboys may be worried Blake Jarwin may never live up the hype and Dalton Schultz may be worried his opportunities are about to dry up in his all-important contract year.

Schultz, 2020’s 15-game starter at TE, is under pressure to perform in training camp. Last year’s Week 1 starter, Blake Jarwin, was handed a shiny new extension that isn’t escapable for at least another year (maybe two). As such, Jarwin will be given every opportunity to get back his TE1 job here in 2021.

Should the Dallas Cowboys re-sign Dalton Schultz before his final season under contract?

Dalton Schultz has been an early standout in Cowboys camp this past week. The one-year starter is in the last year of his rookie deal and has no intention of just handing the ball over to returning TE1, Blake Jarwin. Especially not in his contract year.

A deal could be made if Dallas thought Schultz was about to take the next step, and Schultz was worried he’d see opportunities dry up with Jarwin back into the mix.

Schultz’s rise has been meteoric over the past 12 months. Think about it: At this time last year, fans were complaining about Schultz even being a TE2. One year later and he has people pulling for him to win the starting spot over Jarwin. The way camp is going, those people may get their wish…kinda.

Schultz is in no way going to push Jarwin off the roster (Jarwin’s more expensive to cut than to keep), but he could split snaps with him in 11 personnel (Dallas’ primary personnel group) and make a case for being co-starter.

If the Dallas Cowboys are already paying Jarwin starter money, and can’t afford to cut him, how could they justify re-signing Schultz?

Jarwin was signed to “modest” starter money. The Dallas Cowboys sensed a breakout season was approaching so they signed him to a multiyear deal. But since it was all speculation, they were able to do so at an average cost of $5.5 million making him, today, just the 19th paid TE in the league. Doing a slightly more modest deal with Schultz would be digestible in the grand scheme.

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The difference in what the two offer is significant. Schultz has the high floor while Jarwin has the high ceiling. They are also polar opposites as players. Schultz is a plus blocker while Jarwin is the plus pass-catcher. If the Dallas Cowboys decide they’d rather hitch their wagon to a blocker, they could re-sign Schultz now (while his price is low) and dump Jarwin either next summer or the summer after.

Schultz shouldn’t demand much. Last season he was a good blocker but a below average pass-catcher. He had a little late-career-Witten to his game where he could be a reliable target but wasn’t going to give you much after the catch. Typically, those guys don’t demand much in this league.

But if Dallas thought Dalton was about to take the next step in his development and Schultz was worried he’d see opportunities dry up with Jarwin back into the mix, both sides should be able to find a compromise price point.

We will see how this unfolds but it may be wise to get in front of this whole thing and extend Dalton Schultz a year early

• Published on 07/28/2021 at 11:01 AM
• Last updated at 07/26/2021 at 21:25 PM