Cowboys Trade ‘Rumor’: Dak Prescott Offense Adds Jaguars WR?
Just one year ago, the Dallas Cowboys had one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the entire NFL. With a roster sporting talent such as Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Cedrick Wilson Jr., and Michael Gallup, it's no surprise that quarterback Dak Prescott was able to pass for nearly 4,500 yards.
Yet, the back end of the 2021 NFL season was not kind to the roster. Gallup, a semi-hidden gem in the receiver room, went down with an ACL tear in Week 17 and is projected to miss two to three games to start the 2022 NFL season. Cooper, a four-time Pro Bowler, was traded to the Cleveland Browns for a mere fifth-round pick and sixth-round pick exchange. Wilson Jr., who was an unrestricted free agent, signed with the Miami Dolphins for a three-year $22 million contract.
So right now is Lamb and question marks.
One possible solution for this thinning wide receiver room, according to media gossip, is a trade for Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Laviska Shenault.
Shenault was drafted by the Jaguars with the 42nd overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. The former Colorado Buffaloes standout showed impressive athleticism as both a receiver and runner; in combination with his relatively raw technique and issues with drops, he was used primarily as a gadget player. Despite generating mid-to-late first-round hype throughout his draft cycle, Shenault ultimately fell to the second round primarily because of these deficiencies.
The bad news is, a lot of these deficiencies are still valid for Shenault. Despite being the league for two seasons, he has not improved much in these areas.
Correspondingly, his production has been relatively lackluster as well. In 30 games across two seasons, he has just 1351 all-purpose yards (both receiving and rushing) with just five total touchdowns.
For this reason, Shenault was placed on the trade block as far back as March.
For the Cowboys, Shenault would likely require just a fourth- or fifth-round draft pick in swap. In terms of contract, the Dallas front office has around $20 million in cap space to work with. Shenault is poised to carry a cap hit of roughly $2.1 million in 2022 and $2.5 million in 2023. Therefore, even as a two-year rental, his rookie deal offers a lot of flexibility for a potential sparkplug on offense.
In general, acquiring Shenault would be a low-risk high-reward move for the Cowboys. … even as they express happiness inside The Star with the quick development of third-round rookie Jalen Tolbert. With training camp quickly approaching, the Cowboys will have to decide soon if they are content with the current receiving corps, or if they want to make the move for a gadget player who can provide some more athleticism to an already explosive offense.
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