![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2167218336-e1784707351787.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy. <\/p>\n
The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> are watching 1 of their former late-round picks blossom into what could become a star in his own right in wide receiver Ryan Flournoy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Flournoy made a massive leap in terms of production between his rookie year and Year 2 in 2025, and looks to make another leap in Year 3 to perhaps the NFL\u2019s best WR3 option behind NFL<\/a> All-Pro wide receivers CeeDee Lamb<\/a> and George Pickens<\/a>.<\/p>\n Athlon Sports NFL Reporter Luke Easterling<\/a> put Flournoy at the top of his list of \u201cSecret Weapons\u201d for NFL teams headed into 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cDak Prescott<\/a>\u00a0has one of the NFL\u2019s best receiver tandems with\u00a0CeeDee Lamb\u00a0and\u00a0George Pickens, but Flournoy is primed for a breakout campaign as the Cowboys\u2019 No. 3 target,\u201d Easterling wrote. \u201cOriginally a sixth-round pick who finished his winding college football career at Southeastern Missouri State, showed flashes of potential in limited work last season, catching 40 passes for 475 yards and four touchdowns. Lamb and Pickens will continue to get the lion\u2019s share of the targets in Dallas\u2019 passing game, but while opposing defenses are trying to slow them down, Flournoy should benefit from plenty of 1-on-1 opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n How Much of a Surprise Will Ryan Flournoy Be?<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Todd Archer singled Flournoy out<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0 1 of the NFL\u2019s \u201cBiggest Surprises\u201d this offseason.<\/p>\n \u201cFlournoy is coming off a 40-catch, 475-yard, four-touchdown season a year ago when he had two 100-yard games, so surprise might be a little much, but if something happens to CeeDee Lamb\u00a0and\u00a0George Pickens, the Cowboys know what they have in Flournoy,\u201d Archer wrote on June 22. \u201cHe is strong attacking the ball. This offseason, he has worked in the slot more.\u201d<\/p>\n Flournoy managed to have his mini-breakout season in 2025 with just 4 starts while taking a backseat to wide receiver\u00a0Jalen Tolbert<\/a>. With Tolbert out the door to the\u00a0Miami Dolphins<\/a>\u00a0in free agency, that WR3 role seems like it\u2019s now Flournoy\u2019s to lose.<\/p>\n Cowboys Getting Massive Value for Ryan Flournoy<\/p>\n Flournoy is in the 3rd season of his 4-year, $4.15 million contract, meaning if he can truly be the WR3 for the Cowboys, that\u2019s a pretty incredible value at just over $1 million per year in a spot NFL teams will pay between $5 million to $10 million for in some cases.<\/p>\n \u201cRYAN\u00a0FLOURNOY\u00a0IS OFFICIALLY WR 3 FOR THE DALLAS\u00a0COWBOYS,\u201d\u00a0Dallas Cowboys Plug wrote<\/a>\u00a0on its official X account after Tolbert signed with the Dolphins.\u00a0\u201cFLO GANGGGGG\u201d<\/p>\n Flournoy could also be setting himself up for a massive payday in a few years and compares favorably to wide receiver\u00a0Jauan Jennings<\/a>, who just signed a 1-year, $8 million free-agent contract with the\u00a0Minnesota Vikings<\/a>\u00a0worth up to $13 million with incentives.<\/p>\n While the Cowboys went 7-9-1 in 2025 and missed the playoffs, it wasn\u2019t because of their offense, which was arguably the NFL\u2019s best in 2025.<\/p>\n That offense had so many weapons that it\u2019s incredible Flournoy was able to make the impact he did \u2014 in any pecking order he was behind Lamb, Pickens, tight end Jake Ferguson<\/a>\u00a0and running back\u00a0Javonte Williams<\/a>\u00a0in terms of who gets the ball first. Add Tolbert in the mix, and what Flournoy accomplished is even more impressive.<\/p>\n \u201cHiding in plain sight on a dynamic Cowboys offense, Flournoy posted an 80.3 PFF overall grade as the unit\u2019s third-highest-graded player,\u201d\u00a0PFF\u2019s Zach Tantillo<\/a>\u00a0wrote. \u201cHe brought in 40 of his 42 catchable targets and led Dallas in touchdown receptions from Weeks 9 through 18.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ryan Flournoy. The Dallas Cowboys are watching 1 of their former late-round picks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":["post-952293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-cowboys","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallascowboys","tag-football","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116962933405691813","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}