Dallas Cowboys: Free agents who could replace Lucky Whitehead
By Carl Daley
The Dallas Cowboys are moving on from wide receiver Lucky Whitehead, so what comes next? Here are some players they may bring in for a look.
The Dallas Cowboys have had somewhat of a rough offseason. Media outlets constantly reported players misgivings even if they had a pretty bad hang nail, however, training camp is finally here.
Now the team can begin towards their ultimate goal, preparing themselves for the NFL season. With a monstrous Week One matchup with the New York Giants, the Cowboys will need to be prepared.
They will be without wide receiver Lucky Whitehead after he was released from the team on Monday.
It turns out that Whitehead was innocent of shoplifting and the charges against him were simply an unfortunate mistake. The situation forced the team’s hand as not only was the front office fed up with off the field incidents as well as media coverage condemning the team’s culture, they finally found a better receiver to take Lucky’s spot.
Rookie Ryan Switzer was the best kick/punt returner coming out of college and his skills far surpass those of Whitehead. Plus Switzer is more than just a one trick pony, he can actually catch the ball as well making him an important target for second-year quarterback Dak Prescott.
While Whitehead’s situation was unfortunate (especially considering the fact that he is innocent) a decision would have had to be made sooner or later. The culmination of not only a few seasons of Whitehead’s sub par production but also an entire summer of frustration from the front office caused the young receivers release.
Now the team will look to undrafted rookies or free agents to help sure up the depth behind Switzer. Currently, the wide receivers on the Cowboys roster include Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, Brice Butler, Ryan Switzer, Andy Jones, Uzoma Nwachukwu, Lance Lenoir, Brian Brown, and Noah Brown.
Now it looks as if the team will take five receivers into the regular season. However, could some competition be brought in to compete with Butler? The team does not have a lot of veteran talent at the position. And while Dez is the unquestioned leader and number one, another player could be added to that group.
The names in the free agent pool will only get better as players begin to get released as training camp moves forward. The current crop of free agents boasts names such as Vincent Jackson, Eddie Royal, Cecil Shorts, Dorial Green-Beckham, Percy Harvin, Anquan Boldin, Stevie Johnson, and Jordan Norwood.
Now, none of those players may scream top wide receiver, however, the upside to adding them is fairly large especially if we are talking about Beckham. Out of all of the options listed on the open market, Beckham is the youngest but could potentially be the most talented.
He was released from the Eagles because apparently, the team had too many younger options at the position they liked more. Make no mistake about it, Beckham is a 6’5 receiver with an incredible catch radius just looking for a team to help him develop.
The Cowboys could use an extra body in their wide receiving corps and DGB could easily fill that role. If the team is looking for a more veteran presence Eddie Royal or Stevie Johnson could become excellent additions to the roster.
They may not be as big as DGB but they know how to be productive role players. Royal and Johnson have both suffered injuries in recent years which have limited their time on the field but have been at best the second option in the passing game when healthy.
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The Cowboys have been choosing youth over experience in recent years so taking a flier on a big red zone target would seem to make sense unless one of these younger players could make an impression on the coaching staff.