The signing that the Dallas Cowboys wanted Tuesday didn’t happen. They did however receive a minor consolation prize.
According to Vic Lombardi, Randy Gregory was initially reported to have been resigned. Instead, the star pass-rusher agreed to a deal for the Denver Broncos. Cowboys fans might not want to hear about their backup tight end remaining put.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Dallas signed Jeremy Sprinkle to a one year veteran salary benefit agreement.
The #Cowboys are re-signing TE Jeremy Sprinkle to a one-year veteran salary benefit deal.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 15, 2022
This qualifying contract is only available to players who have at least four years of service and allows teams to reduce their cap hit.
Sprinkle was present in all of the games last year but the 6’5″‘, 252-pounder served mainly as a blocker. In his final season with Washington, he had just three catches for 31 yard. This is an improvement on the six yards he had in 2020. Pro Football Reference shows that Sprinkle only saw 15 percent of the Cowboys’ snaps for 2021.
This former fifth-round draft selection saw his greatest work in 2019, with 26 of 40 targets catching for 241 yards and one touchdown.
Dallas put the franchise tag on Dalton Schultz’s starting tight end, so Sprinkle’s role is likely to shrink this year. For backup reps, he’ll be competing with Sean McKeon or Ian Bunting.