KaVontae Turpin is headed toward his age-30 season next month, and the Cowboys are still leaning on the same thing that got him here in the first place: pure speed. He’s been the fastest man in the room for years, and that has made him a fixture in the return game. What it still hasn’t done is turn him into a major offensive piece.
That gap is what makes his 2026 roster outlook interesting. Turpin has carved out a real NFL career by being electric on special teams, but with a wave of new faces in the mix this summer, Dallas has to decide how much longer that skill set alone can keep him locked into a spot.
Turpin’s path to the Cowboys was anything but straightforward. He came out of TCU in 2019 with reported 4.31 speed and nation-leading punt return numbers, but multiple off-field issues tied to domestic violence kept him out of the NFL draft process.
TCU dismissed him in October 2018 after repeated incidents, and he had to stage his own private workout for scouts because he was not invited to the Combine or the school’s Pro Day. He went undrafted, signed with a team in the Indoor Football League in 2020, and never got on the field because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
From there, he kept bouncing through alternative leagues in 2021 and 2022, spending time in another indoor league, The Spring League, the European League, and the USFL. His season with the New Jersey Generals was the one that changed everything. He was named USFL Most Valuable Player for what he did on offense and in the return game.
A few weeks later, the Cowboys brought him in at the start of training camp in 2022. He wasted no time making an impression, scoring two long touchdowns in a preseason game against the Chargers - one on a kickoff return and one on a punt return. As a rookie, he was basically a specialist, touching the ball on offense just four times, but he still made the Pro Bowl as a returner.
Since then, Dallas has kept trying to squeeze more out of him. Turpin was targeted 18 times in 2023, 52 times in 2024, and 38 times last year.
He’s also logged between 11 and 17 rushing attempts in each of the last three seasons. Even with those added chances, the return work remains the centerpiece of his value.
That’s what has led to three Pro Bowls and two All-Pro selections, and that’s what has kept him on the roster.
The contract situation adds another layer. Turpin sits in the bottom half of the Cowboys’ receiver depth chart, but the average value of his deal places him inside the top 60 among NFL receivers.
That’s a hard number to justify if you’re looking only at offensive production. Without the return-game honors, he probably wouldn’t still be around.
So what could shake him loose? Dallas could decide there’s a better use for the money and the roster spot if another player can contribute more on offense or defense while also handling return duties.
That’s the basic threat, even if it doesn’t look especially likely. Still, Turpin’s biggest weapon is speed, and once that starts to fade, the margin for error gets thin fast.
There are a few names to watch. RB Jaydon Blue is a real candidate to matter here, especially if he locks down the backup job behind Javonte Williams and adds return work to his role. Dallas did give him a few kickoff returns last season, but that came only when Turpin was sidelined by a minor injury.
Rookie safety Caleb Downs also got some punt return work during OTAs, and he handled that job at times in college. He doesn’t have sub-4.4 speed like Turpin or Blue, but his vision and instincts can still make him dangerous with the ball in his hands. The question is whether Dallas wants to expose a player with a major defensive role to that kind of special teams risk.
Another possibility is rookie receiver Anthony Smith, who brings 4.32 speed. He wasn’t used as a returner over the last few years in college, but after going from WR1 at ECU to the roster bubble in Dallas, he has every reason to look for another way to stand out.
For now, though, this still feels like Turpin’s job to lose. The Cowboys have other fast players, but he’s the one who has already shown he can turn elite athletic traits into real, weekly value in the return game. Unless Blue, Downs, or somebody else proves he can do that too, Turpin should be in line to stick around for at least another season.
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