The Dallas Cowboys' trade for Jonathan Mingo last season for a fourth-round pick was about as a head-scratching move as fans could think of ... especially as it turned out, with the receiver only having five receptions for 46 yards in his eight games.

It was no doubt tough for Mingo to jump from from the Panthers and to come to a new team and have an immediate impact, but 2025 was going to be different, right? 

Well, not exactly.

Mingo showed promise in Oxnard at training camp, but an injury halted his progress, and so far in 2025, he hasn't seen the field. For the Week 11 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, he was a healthy scratch.

His trade was seen as a "dart throw" by the Cowboys front office to see if they could get something out of Mingo that Carolina couldn't. The problem is that for the Cowboys to get anything from Mingo, he has to be on the field, and so far this season, he hasn't been.

Last week's healthy scratching was a new low, as fans are now wondering if they will ever see Mingo on the field as a Cowboy, despite the franchise parting ways with a decent pick to get him.

Well, head coach Brian Schottenheimer stated on Friday that maybe the time has come for Mingo to suit up against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"We have a number of receivers that that we're confident in, but Mingo is a guy that we're really excited about," Schottenheimer said. "We want to see him play. It's been a competitive battle between he and a couple of the guys for that last spot. Again, it comes down to not just offense, but special teams as well.

"My big thing for Jonathan has just been, hey, can you play all the spots? Can you do all the different areas? He understands that. There's a chance he's activated this week."

With Schotty big on players lower on the depth chart able to play both offense or defense along with special teams, it is clear that it has been a learning process for Mingo.

But also, players like Jalen Tolbert and Ryan Flournoy have been the two players the Cowboys like after CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. And of course, KaVontae Turpin is in the mix as well.

Mingo was a second-round pick. He's 6-2 and 220 and he's still just 24.

Is it time? Now?

Our feeling is that Schotty is being more polite about Mingo than he is promising him a uniform for Sunday. After all, which of those aforementioned receivers is getting benched for his benefit?

But one thing is for sure: Dallas has held this dart in its hand for the best part of six months, and at some point maybe it needs to be time to have a throw at the board and see where it lands.