The Dallas Cowboys on Thursday signed wide receiver/returner KaVontae Turpin, the 2022 USFL Most Valuable Player.
Turpin, 25, led the USFL in receiving yards (540) and punt-return average (15.3) and was the only player to score a touchdown on a kickoff return as he helped the New Jersey Generals post a 9-1 record in the regular season.
“The No. 1 thing he’s got to do is be a receiver,” Cowboys vice president Will McClay told the Dallas Morning News. “I think he’s a talented young player with his ability to return as well as play the slot.”
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy likes what he sees of Turpin.
“The thing that jumps out is he is dynamic with the ball is in his hands,” McCarthy said Thursday. “I think he’ll have a really good opportunity here.”
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound Turpin also played in the European League of Football after going undrafted out of TCU in 2019.
Turpin caught 145 passes for 1,748 yards and 13 touchdowns in 42 games for the Horned Frogs from 2015-18, but he was cut from the team following an arrest for domestic violence.
This isn’t the first time the Cowboys have signed a former USFL MVP. Herschel Walker won the honor in 1985, also with the Generals, before launching a 12-year NFL career with Dallas in 1986.
The Cowboys waived fullback Nick Ralston to clear room on the 90-man roster for Turpin.
