3 Cowboys Making it Easy for Dallas to Say Goodbye in 2025

Things haven't gone the way the Dallas Cowboys had hoped in 2024, but there's always next year...right?

The Cowboys had to make a number of major sacrifices in the 2024 offseason like letting go of longtime starting left tackle Tyron Smith, former Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard, and a host of defensive players who followed Dan Quinn to Washington.

Along with those sacrifices, the Cowboys were working with a very tight salary cap and didn't have a lot of room to improve the roster outside of the NFL Draft. As a result, some of the players that were brought in for the 2024 season haven't exactly proven themselves to be long-term fits. And even some of the holdovers simply haven't carried their weight.

Which Cowboys players will be easy for Dallas to say goodbye to in 2025?

1. Brandin Cooks, Wide Receiver

Up to this point, the Dallas Cowboys have not gotten the return on investment I think they'd hoped for with trade acquisition Brandin Cooks. Cooks has basically been a lock for 1,000 receiving yards at every single one of his 19 NFL destinations, but not with the Cowboys.

He took a long time to get going in the 2023 season and he's only played four games in 2024. As the saying goes, "You can't miss what you never had."

Other receivers have stepped up for the Cowboys this year, which is great news for the longer-term for this organization. Players like Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin have mercifully been more involved for Dallas and the Cowboys also made a trade for former 2nd-round pick Jonathan Mingo at the deadline.

The veteran Cooks will hit free agency and might get looks on 90-man rosters around the league in the offseason, but his time might officially be up.