Jonathan Mingo still hasn't amounted to anything in Dallas, so is it time to admit it was a poor decision to trade for him?
The Dallas Cowboys traded for Jonathan Mingo back in 2024, which saw the franchise part ways with a 2025 fourth-round pick.
Then, the move was seen as confusing, and now, as we enter the offseason of 2026, it looks like a full-blown failure.
A dart throw that was never really thrown.
The Cowboys used a fourth-round pick to get Mingo into the building, and we heard of the "Mingo Package," but we never saw it. In fact, we barely saw Mingo at all in the regular season.
He has just six receptions for 71 yards in eight games for the Cowboys across two years. That isn't great. ... and it caused our Mike Fisher to turn "The Mingo Package'' into a go-to punchline.
But there's more.
Mingo last season under Brian Schottenheimer played just 80 offensive snaps (19 percent) and only 45 special teams snaps.
Yes, an injury halted any progress he was making, as a sprained PCL forced Mingo to miss the first half of the season, but once he was back, he barely featured.
With Ryan Flournoy now taking over the WR3 role behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, plus KaVontae Turpin (if Dallas wants him as a receiver) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, there isn't much room at all for Mingo.
Set to hit free agency in 2027, Mingo would need something substantial to happen this year for Dallas to even contemplate keeping him around, and the fact that Flournoy has already jumped him likely tells you all you need to know.
So, is it time to shelve the "Mingo Package" idea?
In truth, it was time to do that before last season.
For whatever reason, the Cowboys under Mike McCarthy and then Schottenheimer just didn't see value in having Mingo as a piece of the offense.
McCarthy played him for just 164 snaps in eight games in 2024 (29 percent), and Schotty used him even less last season, cutting that snap count in half.
So where does that leave Mingo and Dallas' decision to trade for him?
Put it down to a failure to even see what you had.
For weeks, we wondered why we weren't seeing Mingo on the field. Dallas used a fourth-round pick on a player that it didn't even want to see on the field? Either that or once it saw Mingo, it quickly realized he wasn't who it thought he was.
Either way, the Cowboys took a shot on Mingo, and barring something unforeseen in 2026, the move to acquire him as a pure dart throw is an embarrassing failure.
Why? Because Dallas never even threw the dart.
