3 Dallas Cowboys veterans who could be bumped off the roster
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys have landed. Even though we’re still days away from real life padded action, it feels like Christmas has arrived for Dallas Cowboys fans. Eager to get that bitter taste out of our mouths, everyone wants to start anew and focus on the here and now.
Some veteran players may not want to be so eager to face 2022. They face competition that could push them off the roster entirely if they’re not careful.
We look at three veteran players who could lose their roster spots on the Dallas Cowboys in 2022.
Veterans carry a certain status in and around the NFL. This is especially true on the Dallas Cowboys who value veteran consistency over youthful volatility to a problematic degree. Even still, the Cowboys have a handful of young players who could push veteran role players off the team entirely.
Jeremy Sprinkle, TE
Given the losses at WR (Cowboys are likely to start 2022 without 3 of their top-4 WRs from 2021) the Cowboys will likely lean on their TE group early in the season. An increase use of 12 personnel could help hide their depth issues until Michael Gallup returns (recovering from ACL).
So Jeremy Sprinkle is safe then, right?
Not exactly. Dalton Schultz is the lead dog but Sean McKeon has been showing progress and Jake Ferguson looks like a rookie steal. Both of those two could secure the two spots after Schultz on the depth chart.
McKeon and Ferguson are regarded as traditional inline TEs who block, making someone like Sprinkle a redundant piece. The depth player who could add something different is Peyton Hendershot.
Hendershot is a pass-catching weapon who can effectively flex out in the slot like Blake Jarwin used to do. He’s playmaker who differs from the rest of the TE room and could bump Sprinkle if he can show he can contribute right away as a rookie (see also: Profile at the end of the article)
Sprinkle isn’t safe even if the Dallas Cowboys keep four TEs – provided Hendershot steps up like we expect.