Skipping WR in draft will cost Cowboys $10M a year, and it was the smart move

USA Today

29-04-2025

Skipping WR in draft will cost Cowboys $10M a year, and it was the smart move Since no worthy prospects fell to the Dallas Cowboys in the 2025 NFL draft, they were wise to avoid the temptation forcing something that wasn't there
The Dallas Cowboys have a wide receiver problem they're going to have to deal with. Aside from CeeDee Lamb, no one currently on the roster resembles a starter. There is hope players like Jalen Tolbert and Jonathan Mingo can step up into the role, but that's more wishful thinking than expected outcomes. As things stand today the situation looks bleak.
The 2025 NFL draft was supposed to solve this issue for Dallas. Sitting at No. 12 in the first round and loaded with 10 picks overall, the Cowboys were rich with resources easily spent on one of the many WR prospects entering the NFL. Yet, when push came to shove and the Cowboys were on the clock, the front office decided to go a different direction. They drafted a different position at No. 12, and they drafted a different position with every pick thereafter. And guess what... It was the right thing to do.
The need at the WR may have been at the top of the Cowboys list this year, and picking one would've saved the club $10 million in surplus value each season, but the prospects available didn't match that need. After Tetairoa McMillan went off the board to Carolina, no WR was worthy of being the Cowboys' top selection. The tier below McMillan was either WRs who had seemingly already maxed out their potential or players who were too green to be depended on today.
Pre-draft pleas to not settle and resist reaching for a WR went answered and subsequent mistakes were avoided. Forcing a WR would have forced a multiyear commitment to a player Dallas might not have believed in. It would come at an opportunity cost of Tyler Booker, Donovan Ezeiruaku or Shavon Revel and it may not pay off in the long-term or even the short term, for that matter.
The need is still there on the Cowboys depth chart and unless something is done to address it, the 2025 season could be an uphill battle for Dallas, but other options exist. Free agents are still on the market and trade options appear to be dangling in the store windows. Teams such as Green Bay and Tampa Bay are extremely deep on their depth charts; there's a good chance they'll be looking to move some excess off their roster before the new season kicks off this September.
Ideally a great WR would have been available at a time when the Cowboys were on the clock but sadly that didn't happen. Instead of forcing the issue and compounding the problem, the team took a responsible approach and moved on to Plan B.
With any luck a veteran will be added in the near future and a worthy prospect is found early next draft. The Cowboys were wise not to force the issue in 2025 but that doesn't make the WR hole any less critical.
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