Tight end Rico Gathers was placed on waivers yesterday by the Dallas Cowboys, and, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, no team claimed him so he is now a free agent.
Former #Cowboys TE Rico Gathers wasn’t claimed off waivers, source said. He’s a free agent. Suspended for Week 1.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 7, 2019
Gathers was a standout basketball player with the Baylor Bears, but switched to football after college. He was selected in the sixth round by the Cowboys in 2016. The team put him on their practice squad for the first couple years in the league before he was put on the active roster last year. He played in 15 games last year for the Cowboys, but only gained 45 yards and there were questions about his role on the team this year.
Last season, Gathers was arrested after police found marijuana on him. It was announced this offseason that he would be suspended for the first game of the year for the arrest.
With the team bringing back Jason Witten this offseason, it was a long shot that Gathers would make the roster so the team decided to move on from him.
With no team picking him up on waivers, Gathers really has to be questioning if he has a future in the NFL. Everyone's roster is currently at 90, so this would be a perfect opportunity to see if he had a future on their team and if he didn't, release him at cutdown time, but no team was even willing to do that.
It was a risk the Cowboys used three years on, and it seems no other team is willing to go down that road.
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