Examining the pros and cons of Cowboys re-signing Dalton Schultz

When the Dallas Cowboys franchise tagged Dalton Schultz last offseason instead of reaching an agreement on a new deal, there was a likely chance he wouldn’t be in a Dallas uniform the following year.

With the Cowboys likely franchise-tagging Tony Pollard in the coming weeks, it’s appearing more and more possible that the 6-foot-5 tight end will be repping a new team next season.

Since each NFL team can only franchise tag one player, the Cowboys will likely not exercise that option on Schultz, according to reports. The franchise tag for tight ends is set at $11.345 million for this season, but it would cost more than that for him since he was tagged last season.

It’s hard to imagine not seeing Schultz in a Cowboys uniform. He’s been with the team since he was drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. It took the former Stanford product some time to break onto the scene in Dallas, but when Blake Jarwin got hurt in Week 1 of the 2020 season, he immediately shined.

The following week of the 2020 season, Schultz exploded with nine catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. In three games as the starter, he had 17 catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Most importantly, he immediately developed a quick relationship with Dak Prescott.

Despite Prescott getting hurt in Week 5 with that gruesome broken ankle injury, Schultz did enough to reach over 600 receiving yards on the year. But his best seasons were surely ahead of him.

Schultz would then finish the 2021 season with a career year: 78 catches for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. The Cowboys decided to franchise tag him after the season, ultimately putting his future with the team in jeopardy.

Now, after a season of failing to produce more than 60 catches or 600 yards on the year, it appears that Schultz might be on his way out of the door in Dallas. But is it really the right move?

Pros and cons of Cowboys re-signing Dalton Schultz

Pros

When your franchise quarterback has a developed connection on the field with one of his weapons, you don’t take that away from him.

Just look at what happened when the Cowboys traded away Amari Cooper last offseason. Cooper put up 3,893 yards in 3.5 seasons with Dallas and when he left, his departure was greatly missed. The team simply couldn’t replicate his production.

Of course, Schultz isn’t on the level of Cooper. But when a team messes up with a quarterback’s weapons, it can come back to hurt them. Prescott put up one of the worst seasons of his career without Cooper, throwing for a career-high 15 interceptions.

There’s no doubt that Schultz has a great connection with Prescott. In every short-yardage situation, Prescott looks for his tight end.

In the Wild Card round against the Buccaneers, those two hooked up seven times for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Then in the Divisional Round, Prescott targeted Schultz 10 times and connected on another touchdown.

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Getting rid of Schultz is once again taking away another weapon for Prescott. With Cooper leaving last season and now possibly his tight end the following year, that’s over 1,600 yards that are gone from the Cowboys’ 2021 roster.

Taking away Prescott’s weapons isn’t going to make him any better. If the team wants him to succeed, surrounding him with players he is comfortable with is what they have to do. Schultz is definitely one of those players for the Cowboys quarterback.

Prescott looks Schultz’s way a lot when they are on the field together. They have a great connection that can be hard to replace. But is that enough to keep the 26-year-old tight end in Dallas?