Cowboys free agents: John Phillips
Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesJohn Phillips finished with eight catches for 55 yards and one touchdown and will be coming off shoulder surgery.John Phillips
Position: Tight end
Type: Unrestricted
Summary: The backup tight end finished with eight catches for 55 yards and one touchdown. It was the second-fewest receptions in Phillips' four-year career. It was clear the Cowboys missed a good blocking tight end after they let Martellus Bennett go in free agency. Phillips was inconsistent in this area. It seems he has never been the same player after tearing his ACL in 2010. Phillips underwent shoulder surgery recently and he should be in good shape for training camp.
Why keep him: Phillips is a smart player who runs good routes but gets lost behind the excellent play of Jason Witten. Phillips can make some plays when called upon.
Why let him go: James Hanna emerged as a good player and finished with more receiving yards (86 to 55) than Phillips.
Best guess: Cowboys let him test the market and move Hanna into the No. 2 role behind Witten.
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Calvin Watkins
Calvin Watkins joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Cowboys since 2006 and also has covered colleges, boxing and high school sports.
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Todd Archer joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2010. He's covered the NFL since 1997 and the Cowboys since 2003. He covered the Bengals and Dolphins before arriving in Dallas. A Massachusetts native, Archer lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two children.
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Tim MacMahon joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. Tim covers the Cowboys and Mavericks. He has covered the local sports scene from high schools to colleges to pros during his six-year tenure at The Dallas Morning News. MacMahon is a graduate of UNT.
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Jean-Jacques Taylor joined ESPNDallas.com in August 2011. A native of Dallas, Taylor spent the past 20 years writing for The Dallas Morning News, where he covered high schools sports, the Texas Rangers and spent 11 seasons covering the Dallas Cowboys before becoming a general columnist in 2006.
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