Fifteen left the locker room on Monday. Another long list of prospective Cowboys will be turning in their playbooks by the end of the day. One of them had become quite familiar to fans over the past two seasons.
Tight end Peyton Hendershot will be waived by the team, according to Tuesday morning X post from NFL insider Tom Pelissero, who cited a source.
[Update: The team ended up working out a late-afternoon trade, sending Hendershot to the Kansas City Chiefs for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2026, according to Nick Harris of the team website.]
The 25-year-old signed with Dallas in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Indiana University. The offense’s third-string option, he nevertheless appeared in all 17 games during his rookie season, catching 11 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot-4-inch 254-pounder quickly became a solid complementary piece alongside fellow rookie Jake Ferguson in backing up starter Dalton Schultz; the two were often referred to collectively as “Fergushot.”
But even after Schultz moved on, Hendershot found himself in the TE3 role once again after the Cowboys used a second-round draft pick on Luke Schoonmaker in 2023. An ankle injury suffered in Week 3 eventually landed him on injured reserve. He ended up making just eight game appearances last season, recording four catches for 38 yards. He had surgery this past offseason to further repair his ankle.
The colorful Hendershot will likely be best remembered by Cowboys fans, though, for his starring role in one of the most imaginative end zone celebrations in recent memory.
Peyton Hendershot gave us this.
Never forget. ✭ #CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/V0vDzFOZmZ
— Mauricio Rodríguez (@MauNFL) August 27, 2024
It was Thanksgiving Day 2022 when Hendershot scored a two-yard rushing touchdown in the team’s holiday win over the rival Giants. After the whistle, Schultz, Ferguson, and fourth tight end Sean McKeon raced to the oversized Salvation Army kettle behind the end zone and jumped in. Hendershot stood outside the pot and used the ball as a make-believe mallet as his positionmates bobbed up and down in a giant game of Whac-A-Mole that quickly went viral and drew fines for all involved.
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Hendershot could now be an interesting pickup for another team, and his release by Dallas likely confirms the staff’s devotion to Schoonmaker as the primary backup to Ferguson. The Cowboys also have breakout candidate John Stephens Jr. and Princeton Fant returning to the TE room from last season; undrafted free agent Brevyn Spann-Ford was added in the offseason as well.
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