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Former Wisconsin tight end Jake Ferguson signs a four-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys

Madison native Jake Ferguson is the latest former Wisconsin Badger to sign his rookie contract.

Matt Belz

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With mandatory mini-camps underway around the NFL, the five former Wisconsin Badgers drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft are receiving important reps with their new teams.

For tight end Jake Ferguson, this past week also brought about a lucrative payday.

On Thursday, the former Wisconsin tight end signed his rookie contract with the Dallas Cowboys.

Ferguson's deal is worth $4,364,884 over four years and includes a $704,884 guaranteed signing bonus. According to Spotrac, Ferguson will make just over $1 million dollars a year annually, and the deal signs him through the end of the 2025 season.

With Ferguson officially signed on with the Cowboys, all of the former Wisconsin players picked in the NFL Draft have signed, including Logan Bruss and Leo Chenal who inked their contracts over the past few weeks.

A local standout, Ferguson played at James Madison Memorial High School before enrolling with the Badgers in 2017 as a four-star recruit with offers from several other Big Ten teams.

The 6-foot-5 tight end would go on to be a four-year contributor for Wisconsin and provide the offense with a key weapon in the passing game. Ferguson finished his career with 145 receptions for 1,618 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, numbers which place him inside the top-10 of nearly all program receiving records at the tight end position. 

Ferguson was a first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches in 2021 and was similarly a first-team pick by the media in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He was a consensus honorable mention choice in 2019.

Rarely injured, Ferguson played in 47 career games, with 36 starts for the Badgers. Based on his receiving production and abilities as a blocker, the Madison native made the Senior Bowl roster, and he shined in Mobile. Ferguson finished the Senior Bowl with three receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.

The grandson of former Wisconsin athletic director and head football coach Barry Alvarez, Ferguson also participated in the NFL Draft Combine and as well as a local Pro Day leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft.

Between the two events, he posted the following results:

  • 40-yard dash: 4.71 (Pro Day)
  • 20-yard shuttle: 4.48 (Combine)
  • 3-cone: 7.03 (Combine)
  • Broad jump: 118" (Combine)
  • Vertical jump: 34.5" (Pro Day)
  • Bench press: 15 reps (Combine)

Ferguson was a fourth-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, going No. 129 overall in April's draft.

Since joining the Cowboys, Ferguson has already made a strong first impression this summer, as Ferguson "was a standout at rookie mini-camp" and sources around the Cowboys organization think he "has a chance to be special," according to Matt Lombardo.

Lombardo would go on to say that Ferguson "turned heads with his physicality" and that his source noted that Ferguson has "really solid body control in the passing game."

The news of Ferguson's signing comes around the same time as Dallas' starting tight end, Dalton Schultz, is in the middle of a contract dispute. While Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is hopeful that the team "can get it worked out" with Schultz, his absence during organized team activities has provided Ferguson with additional opportunities.

It is unknown if Schultz will show up for mandatory mini-camp, which begins June 14, but if he carries through with his holdout, Ferguson could be in line for a larger role this summer and potentially the fall.

Ferguson graduated from Wisconsin with a communication arts degree this past spring, and it appears he is off to a great start in the NFL so far. 

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Matt Belz
MATT BELZ

Title: Publisher, Beat Writer for AllBadgers.com, a Sports Illustrated Channel Hello, my name is Matt Belz, and I am the site manager at All Badgers. I previously wrote for multiple years at Buckeyes 5th Quarter and have been the leading publisher here since March of 2022.  When I am not covering the Wisconsin Badgers football and men's basketball teams, I enjoy being outside and spending time with family and friends.  You can follow everything I write about on several different platforms. First and foremost on our site...AllBadgers.com You can follow me personally on Twitter at @savedbythebelz or check out our Facebook page at Wisconsin FanNation on Sports Illustrated.

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