5 Dallas Cowboys starters likely playing their last game in Dallas
By Reid Hanson
Dallas Cowboys on the way out: Dalton Schultz, TE
The writing was on the wall from the moment he was first franchise tagged last winter. Schultz, 26, had a breakout campaign in 2021, catching 78 balls for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. But instead of offering a big multi-year deal, proportionate for a statistical league leader, the Dallas Cowboys used the tag and said, “now do it again.”
Thought to be a product of the system rather than a true star player, Schultz’s value has been in question across Cowboys Nation. Based on the Cowboys’ actions, his value seems to be in question in the front office as well.
Schultz was retained largely out of need (I explain here). Years prior, the Dallas Cowboys made their choice which TE they wanted to commit to – It was Blake Jarwin. But a series of injuries preemptively ended his career before the bird ever got off the ground. And the Cowboys found themselves in the precarious position where they were about to lose their top-two TEs in single offseason and didn’t have a clear prospect in the pipeline.
Tagging Schultz bought time for the Cowboys to rebuild their TE room. And rebuild they did, adding Jake Ferguson and Peyton Hendershot to the ranks and solidifying their structure for the near future.
Ferg and Hendershot have dazzled as rookies and fill the Dallas Cowboys with optimism going forward. The two well-rounded players are ions ahead of most rookie TEs and should have no problem taking the reigns as TE1 and TE2 next year.
Dalton Schultz wants to get paid and who can blame him? Teams out there will line up to make him a top-5 paid TE — it just won’t be Dallas.