Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones turned heads on Tuesday morning when he revealed that the team was about to add a wide receiver that they liked a lot. Several minutes later, Dallas officially acquired Jonathan Mingo from the Carolina Panthers.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Cowboys’ move ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
Grading the Cowboys’ Trade for Panthers WR Jonathan Mingo
Cowboys acquired: WR Jonathan Mingo, 2025 seventh-round pick
Panthers acquired: 2025 fourth-round pick
Mingo is affordable — we’ll give that much to the Cowboys. Jones and Co. will pay the 2023 second-round pick just over $4 million through the 2026 campaign. But other than the fact that Mingo is inexpensive, it’s hard to justify this move for Dallas.
Mingo hasn’t done anything over a year-plus with the Panthers that suggests he’s an NFL-caliber wideout. Among 59 wide receivers with at least 100 targets since 2023, he ranks dead last in yards per route run (0.75) and is the only WR with fewer than one yard per route run during that span.
Mingo also ranks last in Pro Football Network’s WR+ metric in 2024. In 2023, his WR+ score was ranked 530th out of 536 qualifying wide receivers seasons since 2019.
Mingo couldn’t even get playing time in the lowly Panthers’ passing offense, which ranked 31st in EPA per dropback after Week 9. Carolina traded Diontae Johnson in October, while Adam Thielen has been on injured reserve since Week 4. Mingo still couldn’t surpass 60% playing over the last month while losing snaps to undrafted rookie Jalen Coker and journeyman David Moore.
And yet, the Cowboys decided to sacrifice a fourth-round pick — a real asset! — with the hope that Mingo can develop in Dallas.
MORE: PFN’s 2024 NFL Trade Deadline Tracker
The Cowboys aren’t expecting Mingo to arrive in the NFC East and save their season, especially with quarterback Dak Prescott headed to IR.
However, Dallas — which has just a 5.7% chance of making the postseason, per PFN’s Playoff Predictor — should have been trade deadline sellers, not buyers. This was too expensive a price to pay for a lottery ticket like Mingo.
Cowboys grade: D
Panthers grade: A
— PFN’s NFL Analyst Dallas Robinson
Fantasy Impact of Cowboys’ Trade for Mingo
Mingo averaged 15.7 yards per catch during his collegiate career at Ole Miss and offers some potential for a Cowboys offense that is lacking a WR2.
Mingo’s single-digit yard depth of target during his limited usage in 1.5 seasons with Carolina isn’t something I’d read too far into. He could fill a few different roles for this Dallas team that is now trying to work around a month of Cooper Rush under center.
Mingo’s bulk should make him an appealing option playing opposite CeeDee Lamb, potentially over Jalen Tolbert. But at the end of the day, Mingo’s path to meaningful fantasy production in the short term isn’t clear.
Lamb and Jake Ferguson are going to rank ahead of him in the target hierarchy for the Cowboys, and this offense figures to make more of an effort running the ball sans Prescott. This is an interesting move for dynasty managers, but redraft players can ignore it.
— PFN’s Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe