With CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens in the fold, at least for now with the latter, the Dallas Cowboys aren't exactly hurting for receivers. When also factoring in tight end Jake Ferguson, Dak Prescott and Brian Schottenheimer have quite the trio of pass-catchers to work with.
Jalen Tolbert was a nice piece for Dallas for a few years there, but it is a stretch to say that he was even "good" outside of the 2024 campaign, which was a funky year for the Cowboys' offense anyway. Plus, Ryan Flournoy's emergence made Tolbert seem fairly expendable.
So when it came time to re-sign free agents this offseason, Dallas didn't extend an offer to Tolbert to come back. After taking him in the third round back in 2022, Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones clearly felt that they could survive without him. And vindication on that may come sooner than fans thought.
Former Dallas Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert could already be on hot seat with the Dolphins
Bleacher Report's Moe Moton recently listed the "best player who could still be cut" from each of the 32 NFL rosters. For the Cowboys, that player was Markquese Bell. But for the Miami Dolphins, it was Tolbert, a familiar face.
"The Miami Dolphins selected three receivers between Rounds 3 and 5 of this year's draft. If third-rounders Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas impress during the offseason, they could work their way into starting roles.Â
"Bell is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in November. Yet according to his agent, Erik Burkhardt, and Dr. Dan Cooper, who performed the surgery, he's ahead of schedule and could take part in the Dolphins' offseason program. His progress over the summer could significantly impact Jalen Tolbert's chances of making the roster.
"Tolbert, who's on a one-year deal, following three inconsistent seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, has played sparingly on special teams over the last two years. If he doesn't start, the Dolphins would likely release him."
Now, Miami did gut its wide receiver room this offseason, releasing Tyreek Hill and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine while shipping Jaylen Waddle to the Denver Broncos. There was certainly room for Tolbert to make an impact and have the largest target share or greatest opportunity of his career thus far.
But the Dolphins drafting three wideouts in the middle rounds is just brutal news for Tolbert. While disappointing for him personally if it doesn't work out, it would also be pretty vindicating for a Cowboys team that took a gamble, albeit a very minor one, on letting him walk in favor of Flournoy.
Tolbert could easily be the odd man out in a Miami wide receiver room that features a healthy Bell, Douglas, rookie Kevin Coleman Jr., Malik Washington and Tutu Atwell. It's still fairly likely that he makes the roster, but his contract is so cheap that they could cut ties and it wouldn't make an impact.
While Tolbert's versatility is nice, and he showed flashes in Dallas, there was no reason to keep him with Flournoy breaking out, and especially not now with rookie Anthony Smith in the fold. Something tells me that, even if Tolbert doesn't get cut by Miami, the Cowboys won't live to regret their choice.
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