Dallas Cowboys WR Cole Beasley, who will become a free agent this off-season, recently took to Twitter to call out the Dallas Cowboys’ front office and it looks like he’s just about done with the Cowboys.
In a series of tweets he published, Beasley was responding to the recent firing of Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, claiming that the front office will often “push” for who gets the ball on Sundays and that his number was rarely called because of this.
Honestly, the front office pushes who they want to get the ball to. I haven’t been a huge priority in that regard. Maybe that will change but I’m not sure. More balls come my way in 2 minute drill where nothing is planned. https://t.co/ioih9BJJv1
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) January 22, 2019
When a Twitter user bid him farewell from Dallas, however, Beasely tried to clarify his comments by stating he wants to continue to play for the Cowboys but hints that in order to do so, he’ll need to play a bigger role in their offense.
Doesn’t mean I’m gone. I’ll play anywhere where I can make more of an impact. I would love for that to be Dallas or anywhere else that will give me more pops to make an impact. I just wanna ball. It’s hard with 3 to 4 opps a game. https://t.co/zImZKxkAvD
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) January 22, 2019
Beasley also took time to defend quarterback Dak Prescott, believing that his low-target numbers aren’t due to Prescott’s unwillingness to throw him the ball.
I love my QB and I am one of his favorites. https://t.co/1heJRHDLQW
— Cole Beasley (@Bease11) January 22, 2019
A dive into his stats for 2018 tell you that he’s actually had one of his better seasons yet as a Cowboy hauling in 65 receptions on 87 targets for 672 yards (each the 2nd highest in his career) and 3 scores. With respect to his team, Beasley was 2nd in receptions (to Ezekiel Elliot), 2nd in targets (again, to Zeke), and 2nd in yards (to Amari Cooper).
If you do the math, Beasley was actually targeted an average of 5.4 times a game, which is technically more than his claims of “3 or 4 opps” a game. To compare this with his WR counterparts, Cooper averaged 8.4 targets, Michael Gallup averaged 4.25, and Allen Hurns averaged 2.18. Zeke, himself, averaged 6.3 targets.
The truth is, Beasley is not a #1 receiver. It was clear during the first half of the season when their passing attack struggled MIGHTILY before trading for Cooper mid-season. Beasley works perfectly in the slot and needs to bite the bullet and realize that if he was ever going to develop into a #1, it would have already happened by now. Unfortunately, for him, he is in the best possible situation for his skill set but he clearly doesn’t believe so.
My guess is Beasley, now about to enter his 8th year in the league, sees the writing on the wall as rookie Michael Gallup spent the 2nd half of the season really ingratiating himself more into their passing attack. Beasley knows this all means he will have to share more targets with two legitimate offensive juggernauts in Zeke and Cooper as well as a rising star WR for the foreseeable future if he decides to re-sign a multi-year deal with Dallas.
Financially, however, Beasley needs to secure as much money as possible and I can’t blame him for that. I’m sure there’s a team out there willing to over-pay for Beasley’s veteran leadership and production.
Doesn’t look like the Dallas Cowboys will be one of those teams.
