Cowboys EXCLUSIVE: Dallas to Sign USFL MVP KaVontae Turpin - Sources

CowboysSI.com is first to report, a former standout wide receiver for TCU who just became the USFL MVP, KaVontae Turpin, is Cowboys-bound.

OXNARD, Calif. - The Dallas Cowboys have talked about allowing a team MVP candidate in CeeDee Lamb to return punts. But this is a better idea … 

CowboysSI.com sources tell us on Wednesday evening here in Oxnard that a former standout wide receiver for TCU who just became the USFL MVP, KaVontae Turpin, who was inside The Star late last week for a tryout session. … is now being signed by Dallas.

Turpin the football player is 5-9 and 155 pounds - anything but the prototype ... especially in a Lamb-led Dallas wideouts room full of big bodies.

But he is very literally the best unemployed return man on the planet.

Turpin, 25, finished the 10-game USFL season leading the league in receiving yards (540) and yards after catch (316) ... and he did that while catching just 53 passes. Turpin also added 129 rushing yards and six all-purpose touchdowns for the New Jersey Generals, who sported a league-best 9-1 record.

Turpin’s time at TCU was cut short three years back due to a domestic violence issue, and the USFL offered him his first chance back on the field since 2019. Assuming Dallas is satisfied with his behavioral improvement …

Why subject Lamb - a Pro Bowl receiver bidding to be a top-10 performer there - to the wear and tear and risk of special teams?

As a rookie, Lamb returned 24 punts for 172 yards. That’s 7.2 yards per return.

Is that “effective”? Not exactly. Among everybody who returned an NFL punt in 2020, Lamb’s 7.1 yards ranked him 40th. Among guys who returned at least four punts, Lamb ranked 32nd.

In 2021, Lamb jumped up to 9.9 yards per return; that placed him around No. 20 in the NFL.

Again: Why subject Lamb to the wear and tear and risk of special teams? So he can average numbers that are highly mediocre in the NFL?

Wanna bet Turpin can average seven or nine yards or more per punt return … while Lamb is utilized in almost infinitely more important ways?

Is Dallas trying to upgrade its return game? It is now, with KaVontae Turpin soon added to the 90-man roster.

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