Schultz enters the 2022 season on the franchise tag.
The last few months have been filled with all sorts of activity concerning the Dallas Cowboys football team, plus a lot of inactivity as well. And one of the more interesting things was a wrinkle that popped up between OTAs. You will recall that tight end Dalton Schultz decided to skip voluntary activities (after previously showing up to them) due to dissatisfaction with where things were concerning his contract (after signing the franchise tag that the team placed on him this offseason).
Reports noted that talks between Schultz’s camp and the Cowboys “picked up”, but with a little bit over a month until training camp begins he still sits on the franchise tag (a value just south of $11M for this season).
ESPN suggests Dallas Cowboys lock up tight end Dalton Schultz long-term as one last offseason move
Recently the worldwide leader discussed one last offseason move that every NFL team should make and for the Dallas Cowboys decided to focus on Dalton Schultz.
In fact, ESPN noted that their belief is that Dallas should come to terms on a long-term deal with Schultz, something that hasn’t exactly felt likely as of late.
Lock in tight end Dalton Schultz for the future
Schultz is another tight end playing on the franchise tag, so the range of what it will take to extend him shouldn’t be a major mystery — a deal similar to the extension that Njoku got (four years, $56.7 million) makes some sense, obviously with a few details different here or there. Schultz is exactly one day younger than Njoku and has been way more productive over the past two seasons. Dak Prescott posted a Total QBR of 95 when targeting Schultz in 2021, the best Total QBR for any signal-caller when targeting a specific receiver in the league in 2021.
The deal that the Cleveland Browns gave to David Njoku (who also had the tag placed on him this offseason) is actually what is likely complicating matters for Schultz and the Cowboys. It is completely understandable for him to want a deal of that variety, and perhaps even larger given each of their outputs over recent years as ESPN mentioned, but that is well beyond the territory that the Cowboys are likely willing to go to.
Dallas spent their fourth-round pick this year on Jake Ferguson, and while expectations should be tempered for a fourth-round rookie, it isn’t ridiculous to say that they are likely partly banking on him as the tight end of the future. Schultz is obviously very important to the offense, but the reality of the way that Dallas operates financially doesn’t necessarily lend itself to Schultz getting a long-term deal anytime soon.
Truth be told if Schultz is going to get a deal before the season starts it will likely come while the team is at training camp in Oxnard. We have seen many long-term contracts get done with the Cowboys planted in their California home and perhaps they are waiting for some of that west coast sun to put them in the proper mood.