Cowboys HC says newly-signed $52 million player's down year was 'more of a fluke'
The Dallas Cowboys extended Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson with a four-year, $52 million contract extension, which includes $30 million guaranteed. The deal makes the former 2022 fourth-round pick the highest-paid TE in franchise history.
The 26-year-old is coming off an injury-riddled season which included an injured knee and a concussion, and saw a decline in his production, finishing with 59 receptions for 494 yards and failing to find the end zone throughout the season. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer made it clear the call to extend Ferguson wasn't about the production, but instead about what the former Wisconsin Badger brings to the team.
'He's a great leader. He's lighter (this season). He's moving around really, really well," Schottenheimer said. "I think last year, you look at the first game against Cleveland, and he gets his knee pretty banged up. And then he's got a concussion mid-season at some point. That's so uncharacteristic of (Ferguson).
It was just a year prior, in 2023, when following the departure of Dalton Schultz, the Cowboys moved Ferguson int the role of the full-time starter. In his first season leading th group, Ferguson recorded 71 receptions for 761 yards and five touchdowns and was named a Pro Bowl selection.
'I have zero doubts in my mind that his production will get back to where it was the year before," Schottenheimer added. "I think last year was just kind of one of those years that you look back on your career and it was more of a fluke than anything."
Now entering his fourth season, Ferguson has become a more vocal and physical presence on the field and in the locker room. The head coach referred to him as an "enforcer," someone who consistently brings the edge and accountability every time he is on the field.
'(He's) a really, really good player in this league," Schottenheimer said. "He has always been. He's one of those guys that as a young player, second-year player, there was leadership. He's an enforcer. He's a guy that plays the game the right way. He plays the game on the edge.
Now with Ferguson under contract through 2029, the Cowboys hope that his best football is ahead of him.
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