The Dallas Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones made one of the more head-scratching moves across the league in the hours leading up to Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
As it turns out, it wasn’t just analysts and fans who were perplexed by the Cowboys sending an asset to the Carolina Panthers for underachieving wide receiver Jonathan Mingo.
According to NFL Insider Jesse Palmer, Jones is being ridiculed by executives in buildings across the league for the Mingo trade, finalized merely hours after reports emerged quarterback Dak Prescott could wind up on injured reserve.
“The thing came back multiple times, from executives to me,” Palmer said, of his conversations with league execs. “What is Jerry Jones doing?”
Mingo has never quite lived up to the expectations since being chosen in the second-round by the Carolina Panthers.
Through his first 24 career games, Mingo has only caught 55 passes for 539 yards and has yet to score a touchdown.
“He had ability coming out of college,” an AFC Personnel Executive told me, moments after the Mingo trade went down. “But some foot injuries at Ole Miss put him under the radar a bit. For the Cowboys, Jonathan and Tolbert are in the same ballpark from an ability and skill-set standpoint.”
The Cowboys are clearly hoping that Mingo has more upside than he has shown, and that he can emerge as a more complete option than Jalen Tolbert as a secondary weapon opposite CeeDee Lamb in the passing game. However, not everyone is convinced that’s how this will play out.
Palmer reports that executives in his conversations with them were asking him what the Cowboys were thinking with this trade.
“This trade for Jonathan Mingo,” Palmer explains. “Is an interesting one. The fourth-round pick being included … Most teams think they grossly overpaid, understand that he’s on his rookie contract and he’s only in his second year, he fell out of favor in Carolina, but you overpaid for a receiver when you had other needs.”
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