FRISCO, Texas — Twelve. That's how many wide receivers the Dallas Cowboys currently have on their roster following the 2025 NFL Draft — twelve. Only two other position groups, defensive line and offensive line, have more bodies, and the question still remains regarding who will be the definitive WR2 in complement to CeeDee Lamb, seeing as he needs a Robin to his Batman.
Or, and I'm speaking frankly here, if that person is on the roster yet.
To that point, here's what the WR depth chart looks like as of Monday, April 28, in no particular order other than the king being atop the list:
- CeeDee Lamb
- Jalen Tolbert
- Jonathan Mingo
- Jalen Brooks
- Ryan Flournoy
- KaVontae Turpin
- Parris Campbell
- Kelvin Harmon
- Seth Williams
- Jalen Cropper
- Josh Kelly, UDFA 2025
- Traeshon Holden, UDFA 2025
Which of those players, below Lamb, can you point to and say, "That is WR2 for 2025, without question"?
If you can, color yourself far more confident than the Cowboys are right now, seeing as they took to the stage in two of the three in-draft press conferences and openly admitted they themselves have no clue what that answer would be as the calendar prepares to welcome May, and with Brandin Cooks now reunited with the New Orleans Saints.
"I would start with [Jonathan] Mingo and guys like Jalen Tolbert, and the whole crew like [Ryan] Flournoy," said executive vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones, speaking from the team's Day 2 press conference. "Those guys have potential to be a No. 2, but they're not there yet. They haven't done it. They haven't hit that level yet, and that's why we have had an interest in upgrading that room.
"But I think once you get to WR3, WR4, WR5 — the positions you try to fill, I think that receiving corps checks all those boxes. … If we don't come away in this draft with an obvious No. 2, then we'll continue to see if there's a better situation out there. But at the same time, we do think we have tremendous upside in the current corps to take the next step."
Spoiler alert: they opted to not draft a single receiver, though they did add Holden and Kelly in undrafted free agency; and there is at least some hope in the Holden-Junior Adams-Oregon connection.
Hope doesn't win games, though.
Production does.
With Tyler Lockett now out of the picture after signing with the Tennessee Titans days ahead of the draft, the spotlight shifts to other worthy contenders.
Amari Cooper and Keenan Allen, as the top two examples, remain delectably available and ripe for the picking at the moment; and it goes without saying that both could be immediate contributors in the WR2 role opposite Lamb — Cooper having the added edge of familiarity with Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott. Things may not have ended well in his first stint with the team, but time, money and the prospect of winning playoff games goes a long way to driving a willful amnesia.
The options are there, along with roughly $37 million in cap space to get a deal done.
So, is there potentially a proven veteran on the way to Dallas, one that supersedes the free agency addition of Campbell, be it via a direct signing or a trade? Seems far more than probable, at this point, enough so that it's safe to label it as highly likely — particularly considering there was a possible trade in the works heading into the draft to try and solidify the position.
Those talks fell through, but nothing indicates the Cowboys will give up on figuring it out with an addition outside the building.
"It's a year-round deal," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said in the post-draft press conference about the topic of WR2.. "We don't have to be through at receiver in any way. As a matter of fact, as we got on into the draft, the likelihood of creating competition if we did go out and did something that's important to us in free agency, started making the depth we've got on the roster right now with our possible twos and threes that might be competitive there if we brought someone that was obvious to everybody that he's your second man.
"So, I'm just giving you the benefit of the mentality there. But definitely the idea that we could, if the opportunity comes up, if we want to, can address this in free agency."
It also bears mentioning that any signing that occurs now would not work against the Cowboys' compensatory draft pick formula for 2026, and that's no coincidence in the grand scheme of how and when Dallas decides to add talent — though they were abnormally active in the weeks ahead of this year's draft as well.
All told, it feels as if something will soon land at WR2 for the Cowboys and, if not, there are 11 men who better be ready to go to war in this year's training camp, and beyond, to prove they're the Chosen 1 … er … um… Chosen 2 ... but you get the drift.
