The 2025 free agency period should see the Cowboys bring in a receiver to help the offense.
The 2025 NFL Free Agency period begins on March 12th at 3 pm CST and the Dallas Cowboys should be shopping.
The crop of free-agent wide receivers is deep this year, with several big-name free agents set to change teams and one already has. I’m looking at you, Davante Adams, who agreed to a contract with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Cowboys’ front office and new coaching staff must address the receiver position with a veteran and upgrade again through the draft.
CeeDee Lamb will need some pressure taken off of him next year, and a few free-agent wide receivers could mesh well with him on offense.
CeeDee Lamb’s Receiving Tendencies Give Insight into Finding Help
CeeDee Lamb’s receiving tendencies should be considered to understand what the front office and coaching could look for in a running mate.
Several people outside of Cowboys territory think CeeDee Lamb is just a slot receiver and runs most of his routes from this position. It may surprise some that he is lined up outside just as much.
In 2024, CeeDee Lamb ran 289 plays from the slot and 276 plays on the outside. So as much as some want to call him a slot merchant, he is nearly 50/50 in the slot and outside.
His best receiving game last season came against the San Francisco 49ers in week 8 when he gained 146 yards and two touchdowns. Guess what? He played outside 52.5% of the time.
So much for being a slot merchant.
A multi-faceted receiver like Lamb could use a multi-faceted running mate or an outside threat, so what free agents fit this mold?
Free Agent Receivers Who Can Help
The wide receiver free agent market is loaded in 2025 with several big names hitting the market.
Some big names are older but could still help a team with a young wide receiver room. The Cowboys are not necessarily one of those teams, but another veteran presence could help.
With that in mind, here are a few wide receivers who could help the Dallas Cowboys.
- Chris Godwin (29)
- Amari Cooper (30)
- Stefon Diggs (31)
- DeAndre Hopkins (32)
- Darius Slayton (28)
- Tyler Lockett (32)
- Brandin Cooks (31)
- Michael Gallup (29)
Above, there are eight free agents who could help the Cowboys offense and play well alongside CeeDee Lamb, but about three of these would be perfect fits within the new offense.
The new offense will have more motion and be built to the players’ strengths instead of forcing them to adapt.
Who are the three receivers out of this group who could help? In no order, the three receivers are Darius Slayton, Tyler Lockett, and Amari Cooper.
These three receivers will also not demand a top salary with their new contract.
Let’s look at what these receivers can bring to the Cowboys offense.
Darius Slayton (28) 2024 New York Giants
After being with the New York Giants for six years, Darius Slayton is a familiar name.
This receiver has shown flashes of being a good receiver, but lackluster quarterback play in the Big Apple stunted his growth.
During his rookie season, Slayton’s best year came in 2019, when he had 740 yards, eight touchdowns, and an average of 15.4 yards per reception.
He is not a number-one wide receiver, but he can be a solid number two receiver in an offense with a star wide receiver and quarterback.
Darius Slayton will also not muddy up CeeDee Lamb, who is being moved around within the offensive scheme.
He is primarily an outside receiver where, over his career, he has played 78.9% of the snaps.
At 6’1 and 194lbs with 4.39, he can take the top off of a defense and make the deep catch. He had an average target depth of 13.4 yards while averaging 15.1 yards per reception for his career.
Playing with CeeDee Lamb on the opposite side will elevate his game and could help the Cowboys’ offense become more vertical.
Three years $47.3 million, Average Annual Salary $15.7 million
Tyler Lockett (32) 2024 Seattle Seahawks
Tyler Lockett, the veteran receiver who has spent his entire career in the Pacific Northwest, would be a good addition to the Cowboys.
The veteran leadership alone would help elevate the team, but he brings much more than just leadership.
Over his ten-year career, he has 9,104 receiving yards, 63 touchdowns, and has caught 73% of his passes.
He is also a multi-threat, much like CeeDee Lamb, so the scheme adaptability could be beneficial as he and Lamb can be moved throughout the offense.
Over his career, he has had over 2,500 snaps from the slot and over 3,000 snaps from the outside.
Averaging 13.2 yards per reception shows that he gets downfield, and his quarterback rating of 115 shows he is quarterback-friendly.
A top-level quarterback could increase these numbers even in his later years. He also knows how to play across from a big-time receiver, having played with D.K. Metcalf for several years.
Projected Contract:
Two years $26 million, Average Annual Salary $13 million
Amari Cooper (30) 2024 Cleveland/Buffalo
Good ol’ Amari Cooper, a fan favorite in his time with the Dallas Cowboys before being jettisoned to NFL purgatory in Cleveland for a 5th round pick.
This one may be a pipe dream, as he was the scapegoat for the former coaching staff’s offensive ineptitude, but a reunion could revitalize this offense.
Amari Cooper is familiar with CeeDee Lamb, but would be returning to Dallas as the clear-cut number two wide receiver. Which may be OK with the now 30-year-old wide out.
Since being traded away, Amari Cooper did not have much of a quarterback in his time in Cleveland, but still put up respectable numbers as a Brown.
In 2022, he had 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns in Cleveland; in 2023, he had 1,309 yards and five touchdowns.
In 2024, he split time between Cleveland and Buffalo and had a significantly down year. He had 588 yards and four touchdowns, averaging only 11.8 yards per reception.
The plus side to having Amari Cooper back in Dallas is that he takes over 78% of his snaps from outside and catches 50% of contested balls.
Two years $28.4 million, Average Annual Salary $14.2 million
These three receivers would all bring a slightly different aspect to the offense, but would all be assets to have on the team.
The Cowboys front office cleared a massive amount of cap room, so signing free agents should be on the horizon.
These three wide receivers should be at the top of the list of potential free agents if the coaching staff is going to get the offense back to being one of the top offenses in the league.