Luke Schoonmaker’s grip on a roster spot is looking shakier by the day in Dallas.
The Cowboys’ former second-round pick has had the benefit of draft status since arriving in 2023, but that cushion appears to be shrinking fast. Schoonmaker is in a contract year, and nearly two weeks into training camp, he’s sitting on the roster bubble after never really making the push for the starting tight end job the team hoped for behind Jake Ferguson.
The bigger problem for Schoonmaker is that the players behind him are not standing still. Brevyn Spann-Ford, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2024, has steadily climbed.
He played 300 offensive snaps last season, 91 fewer than Schoonmaker’s 391, yet many would say he already passed him on the depth chart. Spann-Ford’s development as both a blocker and a receiver has been obvious, and he’s carrying that momentum into training camp, where he’s making a strong case to be Dallas’ TE2 for the 2026 NFL season.
That leaves Schoonmaker looking more like the third tight end than a locked-in backup. And even that spot may not be safe.
Michael Trigg is starting to turn heads as well. The Cowboys signed him after the completion of the 2026 NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent, and while many projected him as a mid-round pick, he went unselected. He’s still been one of the more talked-about rookies in camp, and he’s backed up the buzz with strong showings in multiple practices.
If Trigg keeps earning trust from the coaching staff and his teammates, Schoonmaker could be the one squeezed out. Dallas usually carries just three tight ends, which makes this a real numbers game as much as anything else.
For Schoonmaker, the warning sign is clear: production is speaking louder than draft pedigree. And right now, the undrafted guys are doing the talking.
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