Getty Jalen Tolbert of the Dallas Cowboys.
Jalen Tolbert is facing some significant uncertainty about his future heading into his second season with the Dallas Cowboys.
The Cowboys made an upgrade to their wide receiver corps by landing Brandin Cooks via trade and have done their homework on some of the top pass-catchers in the draft. That includes Quentin Johnson, Zay Flowers, Jalin Hyatt and Josh Downs.
The Cowboys were banking on Tolbert being a contributor last season after moving on from Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson in the offseason. However, that did not happen, with Tolbert struggling to adapt to the NFL game. He was a healthy scratch for a handful of games and finished his rookie campaign with just two catches for 12 yards.
Cowboys Wire believes that Tolbert should feel some urgency to turn things around or he may find himself looking for a new team.
Unlike last season, the Cowboys do not seem content pinning their hopes on the development of a young receiver and Tolbert will have to earn his roster spot or his career in Dallas could be over before it ever got started.
There’s a good chance he’ll have to prove himself right out of the gate in 2023. If he can’t be a viable contributor in Week 1, he may not get a roster spot at all.
The Cowboys are in win-now mode, so they don’t have time to wait around for a developmental player if they feel the roster spot could be better utilized.
Cowboys WR Jalen Tolbert Looking to Make Jump in Year 2
Tolbert’s rookie year left a lot to be desired but he’s still hoping to make a jump in Year 2. During the Senior Bowl he laid out some of his expectations for next season.
“Talking with the (Cowboys) coaches and everybody, they’re excited,” Tolbert said. “I’m just ready to take the Year 1 to Year 2 jump. A lot of rookie guys end up taking that jump. Not everybody comes in and is rookie of the year. So I’m excited to just be able to go and take that Year 2 jump and be comfortable and play fast, and get back to the confident guy that I was playing in college. So I’m looking forward to this off-season, just working and getting better and continuing to grow and go into next year and do what I have to do.”
There’s nowhere to go but up for Tolbert and it would likely be a bit preemptive for the Cowboys to cut him loose so soon. He’s on a cheap rookie deal and if he’s able to show tap into the potential the Cowboys saw when they drafted him, it would give the team some nice depth behind their starting group.
Cowboys New WR Brandin Cooks Excited to Work With CeeDee Lamb
New Cowboys’ WR @brandincooks discusses what it was like to be traded to Dallas and to be teammates once again with CB Stephon Gilmore.
The Cowboys made the big move for Cooks this offseason, adding another weapon alongside CeeDee Lamb.
Cooks played the last three seasons in Houston, going over 1,000 yards in two of those campaigns. He missed four games last season for the struggling Texans, notching 57 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns. He’s looking forward to working with Lamb and Michael Gallup to reinvigorate the Cowboys’ passing game.
“CeeDee, you’re talking about a guy that’s been electric since the moment he stepped into this league but you look at last year what he did to really just go into that mode of a true No. 1 receiver,” Cooks said during an appearance on The Adam Schefter Podcast. “I’ve got a lot of respect for his game from afar and I hit him up and was like, ‘Look, I’m coming to just help.’ Like, there’s no ego. And same thing with [receiver] Michael Gallup.”