With the Dallas Cowboys training camp in sight, everyone here at Inside The Star has touched on just pretty much everything there is to talk about.
Yet one interesting thing I thought about as I was going over the depth chart was maybe we should stop worrying about Jalen Tolbert and add another name to the mix that should be battling with Jonathon Mingo for a roster spot.
Parris Campbell has quietly built a solid NFL resume.
His best year came in 2022 with the Indianapolis Colts, where he caught 63 balls for 623 yards and three touchdowns. Very close to what Jalen Tolbert produced last season.
The Cowboys signed Campbell to a one-year, $1.3 million contract in free agency, but the deal is not guaranteed.
It was a low-risk move for Dallas to add depth at the position, but it also means Campbell will be fighting for a roster spot when training camp begins.
Better Than Mingo
Yes, the Cowboys are going to do anything they can to hold onto Mingo and make it work because they gave up a 4th round pick, but are we sure Mingo is better than Campbell?
I don’t think that he is. We can sit here and say he hasn’t had a real chance, but if you are good at what you do, just like George Pickens, you will produce regardless of the situation.
In total, Parris has recorded 1,117 receiving yards and six career touchdowns, respectable numbers for a guy who has been in this similar position his entire career. Battling for a spot on the final roster, mixed in with some injuries.
I read another site say that at best he is WR7 as they start camp. I think CeeDee Lamb, Pickens, Jalen Tolbert and Kavontae Turpin are the only guys that are ahead of him and everyone else.
Cowboys WR room is now led by CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. The others:Jalen Brooks, Parris Campbell, Ryan Flournoy, Kelvin Harmon, Jonathan Mingo, Jalen Cropper, Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin.
Only Lamb, Pickens and Turpin are guaranteed to be roster in 2025.
Maybe…— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) May 7, 2025
Who cares if the investment in Mingo is bigger with a 4th round pick? Campbell is just flat out better than he is.
Training Camp will be really fun this year, let’s hope we can see players take the next step and do what they need to do to help this team this year, but for the first time in a long time it feels like they have what they need on the offensive side of the ball outside of a running back to be able to score some more points.
The key is to keep all these guys healthy.
There are so few practices, It is very hard for players to make much of their few reps. The Boys likely keep Flournoy and Mingo due to contract length. Tolbert and Mingo are sunk cost roster slots. So add Turpin and you get 7 already. And Tollbert may be the guy out to get to 6 .
Tolbert won’t be going anywhere, he’s the WR3!! Other than Lamb and Pickens, Tolbert is the only productive receiver we have!! It would be stupid to let him walk!! Plus he’s a homegrown talent, and a 3rd round pick just a few years ago, so between him and Flournoy, Tolbert has a better chance to make the team since he’s more productive and his draft status!! This team has put way too much work into developing Tolbert to just let him go for a 6th round receiver that hasn’t shown anything yet!! So Lamb and Pickens are locks, Turpin just got a new contract, so he’ll make the team, but he’s gonna be more on special teams, then Tolbert will be WR3, Mingo will make the team just because we gave up a 4th round pick for him in the middle of last season, so he’s gonna be given every opportunity to show what he can do, but I don’t think he’s gonna get passed WR4, so that’s 5 spots taken, so the 6th spot will be between Flournoy, Campbell, and Brooks!! And since Campbell don’t have any guaranteed money, I think he’s gonna be cut!! And even though Brooks has shown flashes, I think Flournoy takes the 6th spot over Brooks just because they’re both similar players and Flournoy has more time on his contract!! So I think the receiver room will look like this:
WR1. Ceedee Lamb – WR4. Jonathan Mingo
WR2. George Pickens – WR5. Ryan Flournoy
WR3. Jalen Tolbert –
WR6/Return specialist/RB. KaVontae Turpin
The only reason I have Turpin as WR6 is because he’s not gonna be a full time receiver!! He’s gonna return on special teams, and he’ll be a RB and a receiver, so he’ll do pretty much everything on offense!! If it wasn’t for that, he would be WR4, maybe even WR3!! But he’s a gadget player, so he’s WR6 on my list!! But like I said, it don’t mean he’s not better than the other 2 or 3 ahead of him!! And there’s no guarantee we only keep 6 receivers, if for some reason we keep a 7th receiver, then Brooks will be the 7th!! Either way, I don’t think Campbell will make the team!! But Tolbert definitely will!!
And I’m not sure how you did your math, but including Lamb and Pickens I’m assuming, you only named off 6 receivers!! Flournoy, Mingo, Tolbert, Turpin, and with Lamb and Pickens that’s 6!! Unless your saying Campbell will make the team, but there’s no way he gets a roster spot over Tolbert!! So I didn’t think you were talking about him!! So unless you are there’s only 6 receivers on your list!!
I don’t think it’s possible for Campbell to make the team!! We’ll already have Lamb, Pickens, Tolbert, Mingo and Turpin on the roster, I don’t see a scenario where any of them don’t make the team!! It’s obvious with Lamb, Pickens, and Turpin!! And Tolbert is pretty much a sure thing as WR3, and we just traded a 4th round pick for Mingo halfway through last season, so he hasn’t even had a full season with us yet, so he’s not going anywhere that fast, so that’s 5 spots all but guaranteed, leaving only one more spot open, maybe 2, but I seriously doubt we keep 7 receivers, so I’ll say there’s only one spot left!! So that spot will go to either Flournoy, Brooks or Campbell!! And I don’t see this front office giving up on one of their draft picks to keep a player they signed to a 1 year no guarantee money contract!! They’re gonna wanna keep their draft picks!! So that leaves Flournoy and Brooks fighting for the 6th spot!! And with them both being similar players, I think they’ll keep Flournoy over Brooks!!
So the receivers on the roster will be:
WR1. Ceedee Lamb
WR2. George Pickens
WR3. Jalen Tolbert
WR4. Jonathan Mingo
WR5 Ryan Flournoy
WR6. KaVontae Turpin
And like I mentioned it a comment below, the only reason Turpin is WR6 on my list is because he’s not gonna be a full time receiver…. He’s gonna be a gadget player!! If he was a full time receiver he would be at least WR4 cause he’s definitely better than Flournoy and Mingo right now!! He’s just listed as WR6 just because he’s not a full time receiver!! But that’s how I think the receiver room will look when the season starts!!
a Dallas Cowboys fan, since the 70’s with the preseason being too short and Jerry Jones letting players walk in the last two season an a lot of retirements all these players will be filling a lot of holes the Cowboys roster so I don’t really see any training camp battles