Neither Jason Witten nor Dalton Schultz is walking through the door for the Dallas Cowboys in 2024, at least presumably, and that’s perfectly fine when considering what Jake Ferguson has become and the fact he’s not reached his ceiling as of yet, despite a breakout season in 2023.
But behind Ferguson sits a less secure situation, because there is no player you can point at, currently, and say to yourself, “Yeah, that’s Ferguson’s complementary piece.”
That should bother you and the Cowboys, considering what’s at stake in 2024.
As such, let’s move from looking inward via the “What’s Next?’ series to hitting the free agency shopping mall to see what’s out there that could reasonably help the Cowboys at the tight end position, keeping in mind this is also one of the thinnest free agency groups on the market.
For multiple seasons now, McKeon has quietly been the steady hand in the background of the tight ends conversation in Dallas.
The 26-year-old joined the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan (yes, he was also a Wolverine) in 2020 and has found his way to in-game reps on many occasions, for varying reasons.
Arguably the best blocking TE in the group and one that regularly contributes to special teams as well, McKeon has always found a way to stick to the roster.
But having ended the 2023 season on injured reserve to help make way for the return of Peyton Hendershot from IR, McKeon now enters free agency with a lot of uncertainty but also with plenty of friends in the building that might want him around for training camp, at minimum.
