The Dallas Cowboys have been taking care of business ahead of their season opener against the New York Giants on Sunday night, locking up tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford and wide receiver Ryan Flournoy with last-minute contract extensions.
Spann-Ford and Flournoy were set to become restricted free agents after the season, so give Dallas credit for assuring the return of two ascending players. While Flournoy signed a one-year pact, Spann-Ford got a three-year, $18 million deal with $12.075 million guaranteed, per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
Brian Schottenheimer and OC Klayton Adams now have an opportunity to do with Spann-Ford what they failed to do with Hunter Luepke last season after giving him a two-year, $7.5 million extension one week before the season: Make him part of the offensive game plan.
Cowboys barely utilized Hunter Luepke on offense after extending him
Even though Luepke got a modest extension, it signaled that Dallas intended to make him a bigger part of the offense. That did not come to pass.
Luepke finished the year with 252 total offensive snaps, which averages out to 14.8 per game. In theory, that should have been more than enough to log a carry or two and draw a target or two in the passing game.
Instead, much of Luepke's workload came as a blocker. According to Pro Football Focus, 104 of his 252 snaps (more than 41 percent) were spent run blocking or in pass protection.
Luepke is as physical as any Cowboy, but he's hardly a decorated blocker. He made his bones in college as a versatile halfback who could run between the tackles and make plays as a receiver. And yet, he was given just 16 carries and caught 13 passes on 15 targets last season. For a player Dallas had just handed a two-year extension, his usage was confounding.
No one's saying that Luepke should have gotten 50 touches. Between CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Javonte Williams, and Jake Ferguson, Schottenheimer and Adams have plenty of mouths to feed. But could Luepke have contributed more than he did? Absolutely.
Which brings us to Brevyn Spann-Ford.
Cowboys must involve Brevyn Spann-Ford in the offense
Now making $6 million a year, Spann-Ford is basically an extension of the offensive line with how well he blocks in the run game. His 73.0 blocking grade in 2025 ranked 16th out of 75 tight ends who played at least 150 blocking snaps, per PFF.
Spann-Ford will continue to be crucial in that department, but it's time for the Cowboys to make him a bigger part of the passing game. He drew just 14 targets last season, only one more than he saw as an undrafted rookie, while playing 25 percent of the offensive snaps.
The 26-year-old's new deal is indicative that the team has big plans for him, but that was the consensus when Luepke got extended, too. Spann-Ford is making a lot more money, but you still have to hope that Dallas learned from how it handled Luepke and makes sure the new contract is accompanied by a bigger role on offense.
Spann-Ford entered the league needing to evolve as a pass-catcher. He's made strides each offseason and really tapped into that upside throughout training camp this summer.
At 6-foot-7 and 270 pounds, he presents a matchup nightmare in the red zone and gives Dak Prescott a massive target over the middle of the field. He doesn't need to become a high-volume receiver to make a much bigger impact in the passing game.
There will only be so many targets to go around in this offense, but Spann-Ford's skill set and athleticism are too unique for him to be restricted to a blocking specialist.
He's taken the TE2 job from Luke Schoonmaker. Now, it's time for his role in the passing game to reflect that.
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