Cowboys Admit They Used Flawed Process to Trade for Jonathan Mingo

The Dallas Cowboys made one of the more puzzling decisions on Tuesday, acquiring Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jonathan Mingo ahead of the 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. 

Out of all the positions the Cowboys could have addressed at the deadline, they decided to go with a wide receiver. As you can imagine, fans weren’t excited about the trade as the Cowboys gave up a 2025 fourth-round pick for a wide receiver, who struggled to get on the field in Carolina.

On Wednesday, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy was asked about the team’s new addition and gave a puzzling answer on their decision to acquire Mingo.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, McCarthy said Dallas trusts their draft grades involving the second-year wide receiver. McCarthy added that he likes Mingo’s talent. Archer said Dallas had a third-round grade on the former Panthers wide receiver, who had a top-30 visit with the team in 2023.

Cowboys fans weren’t pleased with McCarthy’s answer as the team traded for Mingo based on their draft grade, not his production in the NFL. The young wide receiver made some noise last year as a rookie, recording 43 receptions (85 targets) for 418 yards.

However, Mingo could not duplicate that success this season in Carolina. The former Ole Miss standout had 12 receptions (26 targets) for 121 yards in nine games. 

If you took Mingo’s stats from this season and placed them on the Cowboys, he would be sixth in receptions and seventh in receiving yards. Dallas is better off developing Jalen Tolbert, who has made plays this season, especially with Brandin Cooks injured.

But Dallas believes in Mingo’s draft grade and thinks he could be a playmaker in this offense. We’ll see very soon if the Cowboys' decision to trade for the former Panthers wide receiver was the right move.

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