Unrestricted free agent Cole Beasley is a key figure in the Dallas Cowboys offense. He is Dak Prescott‘s most trusted WR and has come through time and time again in clutch situations. With his impending loss in free agency the Dallas Cowboys will be hard pressed to replace him so is it worthwhile for Jerry Jones and co. to ensure that Cole Beasley remains on the roster in 2019?
Beasley’s value as Dak’s third down security blanket cannot be understated and yet the Dallas Cowboys only have so much cap dollars to allocate to a roster full of valuable commodities. Demarcus Lawrence and Byron Jones are also free agents and Amari Cooper, Dak Prescott, and Ezekiel Elliott or playing on expiring contracts. Beyond those core players the Dallas Cowboys have several other business decisions to make in next few years in order to prepare for retaining some of their rising young stars such as Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch and Michael Gallup. For example: Will the Cowboys be able keep Maliek and La’el Collins and still extend the aforementioned players? Cole Beasley is valuable but the key questions for the Cowboys front office will be “is he replaceable? and “can they afford him?”
Cole Beasley will not come cheap. For those of us hoping for a home town discount, that can be ruled out based on these comments by Cole Beasley himself:
What that amount equates to varies depending on your definition of a slot receiver but it could range anywhere from $8 million to $12 million per season which is a steep price for the Dallas Cowboys to pay. Based on salary alone it would seem much more likely that Cole Beasley signs with a team other than the Dallas Cowboys this offseason.
If however, a contract agreement can be reached that is acceptable to both Cole Beasley and the Dallas Cowboys is it justifiable to pay him that amount of money? Based on production alone it would not appear to be a prudent investment. Here is Cole Beasley’s production during the last three seasons with Dak Prescott:
| Game | Game | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | Rece | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% |
| 2016 | 27 | DAL | fb/wr | 11 | 16 | 6 | 98 | 75 | 833 | 11.1 | 5 | 47 | 4.7 | 52.1 | 76.5% |
| 2017 | 28 | DAL | wr | 11 | 15 | 4 | 63 | 36 | 314 | 8.7 | 4 | 54 | 2.4 | 20.9 | 57.1% |
| 2018 | 29 | DAL | wr | 11 | 16 | 4 | 87 | 65 | 672 | 10.3 | 3 | 32 | 4.1 | 42.0 | 74.7% |
| Care | Care | 103 | 22 | 450 | 319 | 3271 | 10.3 | 23 | 54 | 3.1 | 31.8 |
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/23/2019.
Those are not the kind of numbers that demand top dollars in free agency and Cole Beasley has trended downwards since that breakout year in 2016. Not to discount his value to the team but the Dallas Cowboys simply cannot afford to allocate that type of capital to a player with that minimal production. That may be a product of scheme or fit more so than the ability of the player, at least that is how Cole Beasley sees it:
Even if that were the case, which I highly doubt by the way, it is still does not make sense to invest that much money in a guy that wont be featured in the offense.
Production and value aside there is one more aspect of this decision and that has to do with the character of the player himself. I am sure that Cole Beasley is a stand up guy and a great teammate. I watched him fight through a painful injury and make some critical clutch plays for this team throughout his career. However, the tweets throwing management under the bus and sometimes inadvertently criticizing teammates along with the off the field commitment to being a rap artist give a poor impression of his character. He comes off as someone that may be immature and at times uses poor judgement. In my opinion for that reason above all else the Dallas Cowboys will be happy to allow free agent Cole Beasley to walk this offseason.
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
All data and statistics obtained and verified through https://www.pro-football-reference.com/