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The Dallas Cowboys on Friday traded Patrick Crayton to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for a seventh-round pick in next year's draft. If Crayton catches 40 or more passes in 2010, the Cowboys' return could get upgraded to a sixth-round pick.As soon as Dallas drafted Dez Bryant in the first round in April, fellow receiver Crayton figured his days with the Cowboys were numbered. Miles Austin, a revelation in 2009, wasn't going anywhere. Bryant was the shiny new toy. Roy Williams had the big name. Sam Hurd plays on kick coverage teams. And despite Crayton's career-best year returning punts in 2009, the Cowboys want Bryant and fourth-rounder Akwasi Owusu-Ansah to fill that role even though both have missed major time with injuries since being drafted.
All Crayton does is catch the ball (37 catches, 622 yards, five touchdowns while starting just four games last year, compared to Williams' totals of 38, 596 and seven while starting 13 games) and return punts better than anyone other than Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson and New England's Wes Welker. Crayton's 12.1-yard average ranked third in the NFL in 2009 while his two touchdowns tied Jackson for the league lead.
After two years as the fourth receiver and one at No. 3, Crayton became a starter in 2007. He caught as many touchdowns (11) as quarterback Tony Romo's favorite target, tight end Jason Witten, but the Cowboys still traded for Williams in October 2008 and soon gave him Crayton's job.
Now, with Bryant seemingly recovered from his sprained ankle -- and Hurd having led Dallas with 12 catches for 175 yards in preseason to Crayton's lone 10-yard catch and absence from Thursday night's finale against Miami -- Crayton's "human insurance policy" self-description and spring prediction that he wouldn't be a Cowboy this fall seems to have been fulfilled.
Agent Fred Lyles wanted the Cowboys to make the move Friday to give his client an extra day to find a new team.
"It seems he doesn't figure in their plans," Lyles told The Dallas Morning News. "We don't see the use in prolonging it."
Not that Crayton wanted to leave the team he made as a seventh-round pick from Northwestern Oklahoma State six years ago.
"I definitely wouldn't be disruptive," Crayton said when asked about returning to the No. 4 receiver role. "That's not a problem at all."
Except for the Cowboys, apparently.
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