FORT WORTH, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys’ potential solution at their latest wide receiver crisis is waiting to be offered a contract that will never come from his hometown team.
Despite the Cowboys’ insistence that Tony Pollard is their slot receiver, a reunion with Cole Beasley makes sense on multiple levels but will never happen.
Cole is not a shot guy.
One of the reasons why the Dallas Cowboys traded their No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns in the offseason in exchange for an autographed picture of Baker Mayfield is the shot.
Cooper didn’t take the COVID vaccine, and he missed two games as a result, both losses. That didn’t sit well with a coaching staff, and an owner/GM, who were all about doing everything possible to win.
Cooper is gone, CeeDee Lamb moves into the No. 1 WR role, and the team signed veteran James Washington to provide help on the outside as Michael Gallup recovers from a torn ACL he suffered in January.
Now Washington will be out at least the first two months of the regular season after he broke a bone in his foot during a drill on Monday at training camp in Oxnard, Calif.
Not sure when Gallup will be ready, but it won’t be by Week 1. Hope he’s back to his pre-injury self by Week 8.
That leaves Lamb to run with a cast from the hit game show, “Can You Name This Receiver?”
The Cowboys will likely wait until the end of training camp to determine if they need to bring in a veteran.
They do.
Asking rookie third-round pick from South Alabama Jalen Tolbert to be a Week 1 starter is asking for Lamb to be triple-teamed.
As of right now the Cowboys will ride with Tolbert, Simi Fehoko, former TCU star KaVonte Turpin and maybe T.J. Vasher with Pollard as receivers to complement Lamb.
If this is what the Cowboys start with at receiver in Week 1, quarterback Dak Prescott should ask for a trade.
Handing Dak this group of receivers for a regular-season NFL game is not giving a team the best chance to win. It’s taking a risk because you’re cheap.
There are some veterans waiting to be signed, most notably Odell Beckham, T.Y. Hilton and Beasley. Beckham is still recovering from a knee injury he suffered in the Rams’ Super Bowl win, so he’s not going to be available soon.
If the Cowboys are only looking for help on the outside, Hilton is a better fit.
If the Cowboys plan to rely on Pollard as the slot receiver, that’s a big ask for someone who has never done it on a consistent basis.
If they are serious about upgrades for Prescott, Beasley is the guy. He played the last three years for the Buffalo Bills, who cut him in the offseason after they were unable to find a trade partner.
He’s 33, and has played 10 years in the NFL, he first seven with the Cowboys.
He’d come back to the Cowboys if a contract is offered.
Don’t expect one to be offered.
Like Cooper, Beasley made a choice regarding the COVID vaccine, and there are consequences.
Whereas Cooper was silent in his feelings, and refused to take the vaccine, no player in the NFL was more vocal ripping the COVID shots, and COVID protocols, more than Cole Beasley.
Beasley proudly didn’t take the shot, didn’t wear a mask, and boldly went on Twitter to pose “questions” about the protocols.
He tested positive for COVID in December, and missed the Bills’ game against the New England Patriots as a result.
Even though his production slid last season, he still had 82 catches and still has value as an underneath receiver, an outlet for any quarterback.
Do not think for a moment his outspoken stance didn’t weigh in the Bills’ decision to dump him.
It doesn’t mean he’s done.
Given his height, Beasley always compared to former Patriots receivers Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman; Amendola played until he was 36, and Edelman retired at 34.
Beasley has something left.
Cole Beasley returning to the Cowboys on a one-year deal make sense, but it won’t happen because he no longer fits.
He exercised his right not to take a shot, and the Cowboys have made it clear what they think of those guys.
Ask Amari Cooper.
