The Dallas Cowboys do not have a starter problem at the tight end position. Jake Ferguson solved that a while back, and the franchise confirmed it when it gave him a four-year extension during training camp last year. Ferguson is now locked in as one of Dak Prescott’s trusted targets and is coming off a 2025 season in where he posted 82 catches, 600 yards, and eight touchdowns before being added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster.
The more interesting question is what happens behind him.
For years, the Cowboys have talked themselves into the idea that Luke Schoonmaker would eventually become the clear second tight end. That was the expectation after Dallas used a second-round pick on him in 2023. He had the size, testing profile, Michigan pedigree, and blocking background to become a useful complement to Ferguson. Three years later, though, the battle is much more open than the draft investment would suggest.
Schoonmaker is still very much in the mix. The current Cowboys depth chart lists him behind Ferguson, ahead of Brevyn Spann-Ford, Princeton Fant, Michael Trigg, and D.J. Rogers. That is not meaningless. Coaches tend to trust players who know the system, and Schoonmaker has been in the building long enough to understand the details of the offense.
But the production has not matched the investment. Schoonmaker finished 2025 with just 14 catches for 132 yards, while Spann-Ford caught nine of 13 targets for 90 yards and his first career touchdown. Neither player dominated the passing game, but Spann-Ford did more with less, and that matters when projecting who can force his way into a bigger role.
The case for Schoonmaker is still easy to make. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract, so there is a clear financial incentive for him to have the best season of his career, and we’ve all seen what players suddenly do in a contract year. He has also said he feels fully healthy this offseason for the first time as a pro, after dealing with foot surgery, shoulder surgery, and other soft-tissue issues earlier in his career.
If he can become more than a short-area safety valve and actually threaten the seam, Dallas suddenly has a different answer in 12 man personnel. Ferguson is already the chain-mover. George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb will command attention outside. A tight end who can get behind linebackers would give Brian Schottenheimer another way to attack defenses that want to sit on underneath routes. The issue is that projection has been doing a lot of the work with Schoonmaker. At some point, a former second-round pick has to become more than a theoretical playmaker. The Cowboys do not need TE2 to be a star, but they do need that player to have a defined weekly function. Right now, Spann-Ford’s role feels clearer.
Spann-Ford gives Dallas size, physicality, and a more natural fit as the second tight end in heavier personnel. With his size he brings a different body type to the room. He can function attached to the line, help in the run game, and still present enough of a receiving target over the middle to punish smaller defenders. Last offseason, we saw how the offense used Spann-Ford’s size as a mismatch tool, and this is the key difference. Schoonmaker’s argument is based on what he could still become. Spann-Ford’s argument is based on what he already does well.
Schoonmaker can still win it if he finally becomes the downfield threat the Cowboys have been waiting on. He has the athletic profile, the draft pedigree, and the contract-year motivation. A strong training camp would make it easy for the coaching staff to keep him in the role they always envisioned for him. But the prediction here is Spann-Ford.
The likely Week 1 projection is Ferguson as TE1, Spann-Ford as TE2, Schoonmaker as TE3, and Trigg either making the roster as a developmental receiving option or landing on the practice squad if Dallas only keeps three traditional tight ends. Princeton Fant, Michael Trigg, and D.J. Rogers are fighting from deeper on the depth chart, but the real intrigue is whether Dallas finally admits that Spann-Ford has passed Schoonmaker in practical value. The answer should be yes.
Schoonmaker still has time to change the conversation. But if the Cowboys are choosing the player who gives them the best mix of blocking, size, role clarity, and untapped receiving growth behind Ferguson, Spann-Ford is the pick.
