Cowboys fans were already fuming over the Jonathan Mingo trade the moment it happened—giving up a fourth-round pick for a wide receiver who barely saw the field in Carolina. Now, after Ryan Flournoy’s breakout 2025 season, that anger has reached boiling point. Dallas Nation has a fresh, undeniable reason to call the deal one of the most pointless moves in recent memory.
Jon Machota of The Athletic recently projected the Cowboys’ 2026 offensive roster, and his take on the wide receiver room is a brutal indictment of the front office’s decision to acquire Mingo. Machota writes that Flournoy, entering the final year of his rookie deal after a breakout campaign, makes it “easier for the Cowboys to move on from Tolbert and possibly Mingo.”
That’s right—possibly Mingo. The player Dallas traded valuable draft capital for is now an afterthought, potentially cuttable before he ever makes a real impact in Dallas.
George Pickens, whether extended long-term or franchise-tagged, isn’t going anywhere. KaVontae Turpin remains a dynamic gadget weapon after posting 43 touches, 446 scrimmage yards, and two touchdowns this season. And then there’s Flournoy, who seized the WR3 role from Jalen Tolbert midseason and turned it into a strength.
Dig into the numbers and Flournoy’s case gets even stronger: his 78.3 PFF receiving grade ranked 23rd among receivers with 50+ targets, his 111.8 passer rating when targeted placed 14th, and his 5.0 yards after catch per reception ranked 19th league-wide. He wasn’t just reliable—he was one of the most productive tertiary receivers in football.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Mingo’s Cowboys tenure has been an unmitigated disaster. Acquired before the 2024 trade deadline, the former second-round pick spent the start of the season on injured reserve after a preseason knee injury. When he finally returned, he was buried so deep on the depth chart that he was a healthy scratch against Denver, Arizona, and Las Vegas. He didn’t make his Dallas debut until Week 12 and finished the year with exactly one catch for 25 yards on five targets across six appearances.
The Cowboys can cut Mingo this offseason and save $1.9 million in cap space—a move that would open snaps for promising rookie Traeshon Holden (who flashed in camp) or a potential Day 3 draft pick in 2026. Forcing Mingo into the offense at this point would be stubborn for stubbornness’ sake.
When Dallas sent a fourth-round pick to Carolina for a player who has contributed almost nothing, it was already a head-scratcher. Now, with Flournoy’s emergence turning the receiver room into a legitimate strength, the trade looks outright indefensible.
Cowboys fans have every right to be livid. The Jonathan Mingo deal isn’t just a miss—it’s a glaring reminder of how quickly a questionable move can go from confusing to catastrophic.