Former Cowboys Star Retires Two Weeks After Joining NFC Foe: Report

Getty Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Cole Beasley celebrates after a touchdown during an NFL game.

After a career spanning 11 NFL seasons and countless memories with the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, Cole Beasley is hanging it up.

Beasley is a familiar name to Cowboys (or Buffalo Bills) fans, as the receiver spent seven and three seasons with those respective teams. Now, the wide receiver is heading for life after the NFL as he is apparently retiring.

NFL media insider Tom Pelissero was the first to report the news on October 5.

“#Bucs WR Cole Beasley has decided to retire effective immediately, his agents Joel and Justin Turner tell me and @MikeGarafolo,” Pelissero Tweeted. “’He is ready to be with his family after playing in 11 seasons and it’s time to be a full time dad and husband.’”

The decision to retire does come as a bit of a surprise considering that Beasley had just signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 21. While Beasley was an active designation for the team’s past two games, he was still being reverted to the practice squad each week.

Either way, Beasley wraps up an impressive career that featured playoff runs with the Cowboys and Bills, with plenty of catches to boot.

Beasley’s Road Through the NFL

Beasley entered the league as an undrafted free agent, with Dallas picking him up after the 2012 NFL draft. Getting onto an NFL roster as an undrafted free agent is an uphill battle, but Beasley impressed Cowboys coaches enough to make the team.

After a small role in his rookie season, Beasley became a consistent weapon for Dallas over the next six years. According to Pro Football Reference, Beasley’s lowest total for receiving yards over that span was 314 receiving yards in 2017.

By the time Beasley left the Cowboys, he had racked up 3271 receiving yards and 23 touchdowns on 319 receptions. However, his move to Buffalo ended up creating the best seasons of his career.

Beasley nearly cracked the 1000-yard mark in 2020 with 967 receiving yards, totaling 2438 yards over three seasons with an additional 11 touchdowns.

The 33-year-old’s time in Tampa Bay was limited, but he was still involved in both of his appearances. Beasley caught four passes on five targets for 17 yards. In total, Beasley caught 554 receptions for 5726 career yards and 34 touchdowns over 151 NFL games played.

Beasley Had Considered Return to Cowboys

At the start of the 2022 season, Beasley was still without a team. Heavy had previously covered that he had gotten in online altercations about not having a team, but the ex-Cowboys receiver had also expressed a willingness to play for Dallas.

In a since-deleted Tweet that was covered by Blogging the Boys, Beasley was asked if he was up to rejoin the Cowboys.

“To play with Dak I would,” Beasley reportedly said.

It would have been a sensational return, especially considering that Dallas was in need of wide receiver help for the majority of the 2022 offseason. From one angle, it seems like the Cowboys dodged a bullet by not bringing in Beasley only for him to retire.

However, there’s always the possibility that Beasley doesn’t retire if he had joined Dallas. Obviously, neither side will ever know how that will have panned out.