The Dallas Cowboys have done a good job of filling most of their holes through free agency, freeing their hands for Thursday’s kickoff of the NFL draft. One area they don’t quite know which direction they will be going is at the punt returner position. Tavon Austin is still unsigned, but it doesn’t appear he’s in Dallas’ plans and now, just two days before the 2020 NFL Draft the Cowboys released a candidate to fill that role, WR Lance Lenoir.
Lenoir wasn’t a leading candidate, but the club had previously tried to instill confidence in him for the return role in the preseason, only for him to literally fumble away the opportunity. Him being back on the roster after being on IR in 2019 seemed to indicate a chance to redeem himself there, but after reviewing film it seems the new coaching staff is uninterested.
Cowboys cut Lance Lenoir https://t.co/eXbHZJ1BH0
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 21, 2020
In 2017, Lenoir was signed as a free agent after going undrafted. He played in just one game his rookie year and logged five snaps on special teams only. The following year, Lenoir found himself on the field in seven of the Cowboys 16 regular season games as well as a playoff game appearance but was only able to contribute on a total of eight snaps on offense. In 2019 his season was cut short before it even got off the ground when he injured his knee during the pre-season and was placed on injured reserve.
In his first two seasons with the Cowboys, Lenoir was able to log just one tackle while playing special teams. There were a few attempts made by the team in the 2018 pre-season to make him the punt returner but after a few miscues, it did not pan out for the Western Illinois product.
With Lenoir being released, this now leaves the Cowboys wide receiver depth chart even thinner.
The corps is headlined by the freshly re-signed Amari Cooper, second year man Michael Gallup, followed by Cedric Wilson, Devin Smith and Ventell Bryant. In addition, the Cowboys have made themselves thinner on the special teams. Last season, Austin and Randal Cobb handled most of the punt return game and neither of those two players are with the team in 2020. The Cowboys did not have one punt return or kick off return touchdown in 2019. Tony Pollard is assumed to be the primary kick returner, but new head coach Mike McCarthy along side new special teams coach John “Bones” Fassel plan on improving the entire return game this season.
The need for a wide receiver may be addressed in the 2020 NFL Draft or an attempt to sign a veteran shortly after. Either way, the releasing of Lenoir pushes the need ever-so-slightly up the priority list.
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