On the night before final cuts need to be made, Dallas Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers was arrested for marijuana possession and likely sealed his fate.
No player had a better path to the Dallas Cowboys 53-man roster than Rico Gathers did this preseason. Future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten retired during the draft and Dallas really wasn’t ready to replace him.
That meant Gathers could finally make good on his potential and stake claim to the starting job. The former basketball player has all the skills to be a receiving threat at the position and had players like Geoff Swaim and Blake Jarwin to compete with.
While he hadn’t completely beat them out, it looked like he was doing enough to make the final cut and be given a chance to make an impact during the regular season. The day before final cuts, he even got a vote of confidence from team owner Jerry Jones on 105.3 The Fan:
"“At this point today, we got to put our finger on what he can do for us, can he help us win. We do make decisions based on future potential, but we do have to specifically identify how he can help us now … my inclination is we can do that.” — Jones said about Gathers on The Fan"
Later that night, Gathers made it much tougher to justify keeping him on the roster. Reports came out Saturday morning that he was arrested late Friday night for marijuana possession.
ALERT: #Cowboys TE Rico Gathers was arrested for marijuana possession at 10p Friday, Frisco Police tell me. pic.twitter.com/fAMnBDAIyi
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) September 1, 2018
It was a huge mistake for a player on the bubble and it likely seals his fate on cut day. Dallas may be desperate for playmakers at tight end, but they also don’t need to take chances on anyone else who may not be available due to off-field concerns.
They’ve already spent the last two seasons dealing with suspensions for defensive end Randy Gregory and his marijuana suspensions. Then there’s defensive tackle David Irving, who has been suspended the first four games of 2018 for violating the substance abuse policy.
It’s a major disappointment for a guy who has shown the ability to make splash plays during the past couple preseasons for Dallas. Fans have been clamoring for more of him and he may have just signed his own release papers.