Stop us if you’ve heard this before since the Dallas Cowboys’ season ended, but the team has a receiver problem that needs solving. While CeeDee Lamb is entrenched as a top-eight or so wideout in the league, the former first-round pick didn’t receive much help from his teammates in 2022.
Michael Gallup is entering a make-or-break year after a disappointing campaign post-ACL surgery. It’s now been three years (2020 and 2019) since we’ve seen peak Gallup, and the memories of him posting around 65 catches for nearly 1,000 yards and five touchdowns per season are quickly fading.
There isn’t much else behind Lamb and Gallup. Noah Brown and TY Hilton are free agents, and Jalen Tolbert hardly sniffed the field as a rookie.
While the NFL Draft offers a path to bolster the WR room, the Cowboys could find some bargains in a less-than-stellar free agent class.
With that in mind, let’s rank the top available free agents wideouts.
Ranking available free agent wide receivers for the Cowboys
4. DJ Chark
Signing Chark might not move the needle for everyone, but he represents everything the Cowboys receiver room sorely lacked in 2022: size and ability to stretch the field. His lanky 6-foot-4 frame and 4.3 speed would be an excellent complement alongside do-it-all CeeDee Lamb and jump ball savant Michael Gallup.
Injuries have always been a question with Chark, and he missed Weeks 4-11 last season with an ankle injury. He played just four games in 2021 with the Jaguars, which ultimately saw him sign a one-year, prove-it deal with Detroit.
The Cowboys shouldn’t throw the proverbial bag at Chark, but something around $10-12 million annually would be fair relative to market value.
After all, the LSU product was instrumental in the Lions’ second-half turnaround after he returned from injury. He logged 90 or more receiving yards in three of six games, and finished top-15 at the position with 11 explosive receptions and 17.6 yards per catch during that same stretch.
If a field-stretcher is at the top of Dallas’ wishlist, Chark is that guy.
3. Jakobi Meyers
You could argue for Meyers ranking No. 2 here. Either way, the longtime Patriot is as underrated as they come at the receiver position. A move to the Cowboys would do wonders for his standing and recognition as a legit WR around the league.
Meyers won’t wow you with his physical intangibles — he ran a 4.63 40-yard dash as an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina State — but he’s an artist when it comes to route-running and catching everything thrown his direction.
According to PFF, Meyers’ 3.1 drop rate since 2020 ranks ninth among qualified wideouts, and he caught nearly 70% of his targets in 2022. That number could stand to improve with Dak Prescott throwing him spirals instead of Mac Jones.
Adding Meyers would give the Cowboys another physical receiver who can make catches in traffic. Per PFF, Meyers is top-five at the position with a 63.2% contested catch rate over the last three seasons. He makes most of his hay in the slot, but played nearly 30% of his snaps out wide last season.
Patriots QBs flaunted a 119.3 passer rating when targeting Meyers in 2022.
2. JuJu Smith-Schuster
Smith-Schuster isn’t the superstar he looked like after a breakout second season, but his floor is arguably the highest in this year’s WR class. Though entering his seventh season, the Chiefs free agent will be 26 for most of the 2023 season.
The only caveats with Smith-Schuster is that he’s banged up a lot, does most of his work out of the slot, and doesn’t catch a lot of touchdowns.
Would Dallas be better off signing a wideout who’s equally adept working inside and outside to get Lamb more reps in the slot? Potentially, but JuJu is fresh off playing a whopping 57.4 percent of his snaps out wide in KC.
In 2022, Smith-Schuster caught 78 balls for 933 yards and three touchdowns. He missed just one game due to injury, averaged an impressive 5.9 yards after the catch, and only dropped three passes across 97 targets. PFF projects him to sign a three-year deal worth $36 million and $24.5 million guaranteed.
1. Odell Beckham Jr.
Not only is Beckham the top free agent wideout available, but he probably has the best chance of signing with Dallas of this foursome.
The Cowboys pursued Beckham before the playoffs in exhausting fashion only to be concerned about his physical and progress recovering from ACL surgery and ending the chase. The pursuit fatigued fans, and even star players like CeeDee Lamb were seemingly bothered by the around-the-clock coverage.
Jerry Jones has already hinted Dallas will be back in on Beckham this offseason. That may not move the needle for some, but Odell proved in the 2021 playoffs that he can still return WR2 value on the other side of 30.
After a disastrous stint in Cleveland, Beckham compiled 27 catches for 305 yards and five touchdowns with the Rams. He took his game to another level in the playoffs, racking up 25 catches for 316 yards and two TDs en route to Los Angeles’ Super Bowl win over the Bengals.
When healthy, Beckham is elite at creating separation; an area Dallas struggled mightily last season, and he’s still dynamic after the catch.
We’re anxious to see how he looks after another ACL surgery, but Odell is without question the top available receiver his offseason.
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