No matter what happens with the Cowboys in the coming weeks and months, as they try to navigate tricky contract situations with quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and edge rusher Micah Parsons—three premium stars playing premium positions—they’re going to head into next season in need of depth.
Depth on the defensive front. Depth at running back. And, perhaps more than anything, depth at wide receiver.
Assuming the Lamb situation comes to a happy conclusion at some point soon, the Cowboys will still be faced with a receiver room that lacks talent behind him. No. 2 receiver Brandin Cooks will be a free agent, and the team currently has no established No. 3, with Jalen Tolbert and Jalen Brooks the top candidates vying for that role this year.
If both flame out, the Cowboys could be looking at a dire need for receiving help. And with that in mind, there’s a name to watch for the 2025 NFL draft: Oregon receiver Evan Stewart, predicted to land with the Cowboys by Bleacher Report.
Cowboys Would Be a Good ‘Team Fit’ for Evan Stewart
Stewart has racked up 1,159 yards in two disappointing seasons at Texas A&M, and was hindered last year by a leg injury that limited him to just eight games. He is transferring to Oregon, though, and is expected to put up big numbers with the Ducks.
When Stewart entered the transfer portal, he took a jab at A&M, suggesting the school somehow botched the diagnosis on his injury.
“Where ever I go, I just hope the training staff can tell me the actual diagnosis of my injuries for my physical and mental health,” he wrote on Twitter/X.
B/R’s Brett Sobleski, in an article titled, “2025 NFL Mock Draft: Way-Too-Early Best Team Fits for Travis Hunter, Top Prospects,” pegged Stewart to the Cowboys, citing his underneath prowess as a good complement to Lamb.
“Oregon’s Evan Stewart provides a different skill set, with startling stop-start ability and change-of-direction movement,” he wrote. “He can be a difference-maker opposite Lamb, after no wide receiver on the roster managed more than 54 receptions and 657 yards last season. Brandin Cooks is scheduled to be a free agent after the upcoming campaign anyhow.”
CeeDee Lamb to Miss Training Camp?
At this point, though, the 2025 NFL draft feels eons away. Most pressing is the Cowboys upcoming training camp, which opens next Thursday in Oxnard, California.
The looming question is whether Lamb will show up at all for camp, given that he does not have a new contract despite several other top receivers—Amon-Ra St. Brown, AJ Brown, Justin Jefferson—getting big offseason paydays. Lamb wants to be paid at or near the top of the NFL’s receiver pile, where Jefferson’s $35 million per year leads the way.
The Cowboys have “been engaged” with Lamb throughout the offseason, according to coach Mike McCarthy, but he did skip the team’s mandatory minicamp and racked up $100,000 in fines. He would rack up bigger fines ($50,000 per day) for holding out in training camp.
The Dallas Morning-News reported late last month that Lamb is not expected to show up in Oxnard until he gets a contract.
“Lamb missed the entire offseason program and is expected to miss training camp if he doesn’t get a new deal,” beat reporter Calvin Watkins wrote.
