The Cowboys’ bizarre trade for Jonathan Mingo is rightfully earning F-grades

The Cowboys’ season is in shambles, and their solution is to make of the weirdest, most-hilarious trades of the season. On Tuesday morning it was announced that the Carolina Panthers were trading WR Jonathan Mingo and a 7th round pick to Dallas in exchange for a 4th round pick in 2025.

There’s no use mincing words here: Mingo was a bust. The Panthers vastly over-drafted him in 2023 under their previous horrible GM Scott Fitterer, and at no point did Mingo look like a capable NFL receiver beyond someone you’d bury deep on the depth chart. His selection by Carolina was a trait-based pick hoping they’d get all the best parts of his film, and none of the downside.

That never worked out, as Mingo was passed on the depth chart by rookie Xavier Legette, then standout undrafted free agent Jalen Coker, and finally depth receiver David Moore. It’s absolutely wild that any team would see enough in Mingo to trade for him, let alone a 4th round pick — but Jerry Jones believes in him.

So what exactly are the Cowboys getting in Jonathan Mingo? Well, he’s a big-bodied human being. The complements end there.

Mingo is a slow route runner who moves as if he’s knee-deep in molasses. He’s not an instinctive player at getting open downfield. When the ball is in the air he doesn’t high point or fight for the catch in the air, routinely getting 50/50 balls broken up by smaller receivers he should absolutely dominate.

The trajectory of his career was to sit on the back end of the Panthers depth chart for the remainder of his rookie contract before getting released. Somehow Carolina found a way to get a high pick for him. Meanwhile Cowboys fans aren’t taking his deal well.

The Cowboys just bailed out the Panthers from a terrible draft pick. It’s truly astonishing that any team would make a deal this bad.