FRISCO, Texas – After losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC wild-card round, the Dallas Cowboys’ 2021 season ended abruptly at AT&T Stadium. In his second year with the club, Mike McCarthy guided the Cowboys to a 12-5 record but a playoff exit in the first round.
At its conclusion, the Cowboys signed 13 players to the Reserve/Future list including offensive tackle Isaac Alarcon, linebacker Devante Bond, defensive back Kyron Brown, tight end Ian Bunting, offensive tackle Aviante Collins, defensive back Tyler Coyle, quarterback Ben DiNucci, wide receiver Robert Foster, running back JaQuan Hardy, center Braylon Jones, fullback Nick Ralston, wide receiver Brandon Smith and running back Ito Smith.
The compilation of players all finished the season on the Cowboys’ practice squad. Four of the players made appearances in games as practice squad elevations: Ito Smith (1), Kyron Brown (1), Tyler Coyle (2), JaQuan Hardy (3), and Nick Ralston (4).
Against the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season finale, both Ito Smith and JaQuan Hardy scored touchdowns – which broke the NFL’s record for the most players to score a touchdown in a season (22). Ball distribution became an underlying theme for Kellen Moore’s unit throughout the season.
Each year during the offseason, every NFL franchise faces turnover as free agency begins. Many players find new homes around the league as contracts expire with the old. For Dallas, here are the team’s upcoming free agents: Dorance Armstrong (DE), Bryan Anger (P), Noah Brown (WR), Maurice Canady (CB), Corey Clement (RB), Michael Gallup (WR), Randy Gregory (DE), Malik Hooker (S), Damontae Kazee (S), Jayron Kearse (S), Jake McQuaide (LS), Keanu Neal (LB), Ty Nsekhe (OT), Dalton Schultz (TE), Jeremy Sprinkle (TE), Malik Turner (WR), Brent Urban (DE), Leighton Vander Esch (LB), Carlos Watkins (DT), Connor Williams (OG) and Cedrick Wilson (WR).
Dalton Schultz became a reliable go-to target for Dak Prescott in 2021 on underneath and out-breaking routes. He caught 78 passes this season for 808 yards, becoming only the second tight end in Cowboys’ history to record 70 catches in a season along with Jason Witten. Schultz converted a first down on 55.1% of his catches in 2021 (12th-highest for Cowboys’ tight end), and his eight touchdown catches in 2021 tied for the third-most by a Cowboys’ tight end.
On the opposite side of the ball, Randy Gregory bolstered Dan Quinn’s front with a lethal bull-rush move. In 2021 per PFF, Gregory got after the quarterback on 13.9% of his 308 rush snaps – 15th among defensive linemen/edge players. He recorded two, multi-sack games, tied for the most of his career, and is second on the Cowboys’ roster with 5.0 sacks on the season. In addition, Gregory leads the Cowboys in forced fumbles with three.
Jayron Kearse proved to be the most valuable free agent pickup for Dallas and boosted the secondary. Following the conclusion of the regular season, Kearse leads the Cowboys in tackles with 92 total tackles (62 solo), and amassed 10 quarterback pressures, a fumble recovery and 10 pass deflections. As the team’s box safety, Kearse was relentless in his pursuit of the ball, delivering earth-shattering hits to running backs and tight ends.
