FRISCO, Texas – On March 9, the NFL's legal tampering period will begin for pending free agents.
The Cowboys will have their fair share of free agents on the roster, which of course they can agree to terms with and sign at any time before that period.
From unrestricted free agents to restricted and exclusive rights free agents, Dallas has a lot of decisions to make over the next month when it comes to how they want to construct their roster for 2026, and even beyond.
With that, we'll examine each pending free agent on the Cowboys' current roster, continuing today with unrestricted free agent Jalen Tolbert.
How He Got Here
The Cowboys drafted Tolbert in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of South Alabama after a record-setting career with the Jaguars that saw him earn two first-team All-Sun Belt nominations in 2020 and 2021 and win the Sun Belt's offensive player of the year in 2021 as well with 1,474 yards and eight touchdowns in his final collegiate season.
Tolbert saw increased production over the course of his first three years with the Cowboys. After just two receptions for 12 yards in his rookie season, Tolbert caught 49 passes for 610 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024, leading the Cowboys in receiving touchdowns that season.
What He Did in 2025
After the Cowboys traded for George Pickens, Tolbert seemed to be in a good position for the WR3 job behind Pickens and CeeDee Lamb. Instead, Tolbert had an up and down season, playing in just 13 games and being a healthy scratch in four games during the 2025 season. Second-year WR Ryan Flournoy established himself into the wide receiver rotation instead.
Tolbert went on to finish the season with 18 receptions for 203 yards and a touchdown. While his workload wasn't as heavy, Tolbert still came down with some big plays in big moments, most notably in Week 4 against the Packers when he caught a 34-yard heave from Dak Prescott that required him to keep his feet in bounds while leaning out of play in order to make the catch, setting up Dallas' field goal in overtime to take the lead.
Why He Could Stay
If Tolbert can regain the confidence he was playing with in 2024, there's no reason to believe he can't produce at a similar level with the same volume of targets. He's a mostly reliable player and has a knack for coming up with big plays when they're needed and through tough situations, as exhibited with his game-winning touchdown catch in 2024 against the Steelers.
With the duo of Lamb and Pickens expected to stay together in 2026 and Flournoy showing positive signs of taking the next steps, keeping Tolbert in the fold on offense would give the Cowboys a quartet of receivers that Dak Prescott is familiar with and has good rapport with, something that can certainly make a quarterback's life much easier.
Why He Could Leave
There are only so many receivers that can be active on game day, and the Cowboys showed last year that at times Tolbert would not be one of them as he was inactive in four games last season. It was clear as the year went on that Ryan Flournoy was the team's reliable third option at wide receiver. If that's the case going forward as well, could Tolbert look for a fresh start in free agency?
While it's unlikely Tolbert will be a team's first option at wide receiver if he does go elsewhere, he could very well step into a role as a second or third option on a different team and get a larger workload similar to his 2024 season.
