3 Dallas Cowboys veterans in jeopardy of losing their job to a rookie

Dallas Cowboys Player No. 2

James Washington, WR

After losing Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson this offseason, the Dallas Cowboys had to do something to stop the bleeding. With Michael Gallup still recovering from ACL surgery, they faced the very real possibility of starting the 2022 season with the worst WR corps in the NFC East.

So they signed former Pittsburgh WR James Washington to a one-year deal and covered themselves from the worst case scenario (not getting an instant starter in the draft).

The Dallas Cowboys took their time pulling the trigger at WR in the draft, waiting until the third round to address one of their biggest needs. Luckily for them Jalen Tolbert was there to give them arguably their best value pick of the draft.

Tolbert comes to the Cowboys NFL-ready. Even with the jump from South Alabama to the pros, Tolbert’s game translates and he’s expected to contribute early in his career – possibly even by Week 1. This would not be seen as good news to James Washington’s future.

The top-2 WRs in Dallas are indisputably Gallup and Lamb. And a tie between Tolbert and Washington is going to go to the rookie since he’s developing and under control for four years. Washington came to Dallas to build up his stock, not to slide back down to WR4.

Given the money due and propensity to injury at the WR position, it’s unlikely the Cowboys would ever outright cut Washington. WR4s get a lot of snaps in a 11-personnel offense because someone is always hurt/tired. It’s not a back-up position but rather rotational.

Right now the WR3 job is Washington’s to lose. But if Gallup is back and Tolbert is polished, Washington could fall down the depth chart quite fast.