It's only one UFL game, but former Cowboys wide receiver sent a loud message

While it's been nearly two months since Super Bowl 60 and there are still more than five months before the start of the 2026 NFL regular season (yes, it's a bit depressing), there is finally some football to watch, as the new UFL campaign kicked off over the weekend. Yes, I know it's not the same, but football is football.

There are plenty of former Dallas Cowboys scattered throughout the league, one of whom is wide receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper, who was released by America's Team back on January 12 and signed with the Houston Gamblers just under a month later.

While the Gamblers took a rough 36-17 loss at the hands of the Dallas Renegades, Moreno-Cropper certainly can't be blamed, as the 24-year-old looked absolutely fantastic in his UFL debut, posting 203 all-purpose yards, 93 of which came on an impressive kickoff-return touchdown early in the second half, marking his first-ever score at the professional level.

Moreno-Cropper ultimately returned three kicks for 144 yards and added another 59 yards on five receptions in the loss.

The Cowboys were just too deep at wideout for Jalen Moreno-Cropper to make his mark

Undrafted out of Fresno State in 2023, Moreno-Cropper signed with the Cowboys as a free agent and spent the last three years with the organization, mostly as a member of the practice squad, as the Dallas wide receiver room has simply been far too crowded for him to carve out his place.

After failing to appear in a regular-season game in his first year, the California native took the field once in 2024 against the Philadelphia Eagles but failed to touch the football.

Moreno-Cropper did finally do so this past season in his three regular-season appearances, which came in succession from Weeks 4-6 in the Cowboys' matchups against the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers. While he was never targeted as a wideout, he did return three punts for 27 yards and added another 38 yards on a pair of kickoff returns.

One can assume he was signed initially in case things didn't work with KaVontae Turpin, whom the Cowboys plucked from what was then the USFL in 2022. But that obviously hasn't been the case, as Turpin has become one of the top return men in the NFL, earning three trips to the Pro Bowl and a pair of All-Pro selections, while also contributing nicely as a gadget receiver.

If Moreno-Cropper can continue to put up numbers like he did over the weekend, one would assume he'll get another crack at the NFL. That crack may or may not be with Dallas, but we'll just have to wait and see how things play out.