Jonathan Mingo's time with the Dallas Cowboys has been about as uneventful as it could be. The Cowboys had high hopes for the former second-rounder when he was acquired from the Carolina Panthers for a fourth-round pick last season; however, Mingo has yet to come close to producing as he did to begin his career, if he'd ever become a key part of Dallas' offense.
Mingo's outlook was given a boost when he was listed as active for Sunday's clash with the Minnesota Vikings, marking the first time he's played back-to-back games this season. Unfortunately, he may as well have been inactive, as he made next to zero impact in his limited playing time in the Week 15 loss.
With the 2025 NFL regular season winding down and the playoffs not being guaranteed, it might be time for the Cowboys to finally end the Mingo experiment.
Jonathan Mingo Likely Has No Future with Cowboys
It's hard to imagine the Cowboys believing in Mingo all that much, given how little he's played. The former Ole Miss Rebel is now up to just 27 offensive snaps on the season, which includes only seven in Week 15. Interestingly enough, only 15 of those plays saw him run passing routes, with just two of those opportunities coming against the Vikings.
It'd be one thing if Mingo were at least producing on his few snaps, or at least was being targeted more often. Instead, quarterback Dak Prescott has only thrown one pass his way, giving Mingo only six catches on 18 targets (33.3%) for 91 yards since joining the Cowboys. Twenty-five of those yards came on a garbage-time grab on Sunday, though.
While a fourth-round pick isn't the steepest payment, it's looking like owner/general manager Jerry Jones overspent in his bid to improve Dallas' WR room.
Mingo is still under contract for the 2026 season, so it's not likely the Cowboys have an automatic option to split from him this season. At the same time, he's only carrying a cap hit just north of $1 million next season, per Spotrac, making him someone a wideout-needy team might be willing to roll the dice on. If Jones was willing to pay above a reasonable price to acquire Mingo, perhaps another team would be willing to do so, too.
At the end of the day, the Cowboys simply don't need Mingo. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens are the clear-cut top dogs in the WR room, while Ryan Flournoy has slowly emerged in the mix. The versatile Kevontae Turpin also isn't shy to get involved in the passing game, adding to the list of why Dallas could turn the page on its failed trade acquisition — especially if Jones & Co. can find more help in the NFL draft or free agency.
Maybe the Cowboys will give Mingo more chances down the stretch, maybe they won't. Either way, his outlook in the Lone Star State doesn't look great, and if he doesn't reverse course soon, it won't be a surprise if he's nowhere to be found on the 2026 53-man roster.