Cowboys Ex Player Trade is Still 'Crazy,' Agrees Dez Bryant

Ryan Switzer came and went, and he - along with then Cowboys teammate Dez Bryant - still seems disappointed.

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys selected wide receiver Ryan Switzer with a fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and there were early signs it was going to work.

As a rookie, the North Carolina product was featured on special teams, averaging 8.8 yards per punt return and 25 yards per kick return.

But by 2018, "Switz'' was gone, traded to the Raiders for defensive tackle Jihad Ward ... and Ryan Switzer - along with then-teammate Dez Bryant - still seems disappointed.

"Crazy,'' he calls it.

"Crazy,'' Dez calls it.

"Switz, it’s funny you posted this,'' Bryant tweeted, saying he'd just been watching "1:30 a.m.'' film of both Switzer and Christian McCaffrey, seemingly suggesting there is a comparison between the two. "But you know what the issue was.''

Switzer's initial tweet tells the reader that he doesn't understand why the Cowboys traded him.

"Still confuses me why I was traded. I think I was top-five in both PR & KR. Never did KR in college, didn’t have any pre season that year so I had to learn on the fly. Finished top 3. I asked all season why I wasn’t getting any offensive snaps. Never got any answers," he wrote on Twitter Wednesday evening.

But after Dez said, "You know what the issue was,'' Switzer responded, "Indeed I do! It’s crazy because that summer and all fall camp we were led to believe it would be different.''

Maybe there is some mystery we're missing here, but ...

*We assume the Cowboys thought they needed D-line help, and therefore valued Ward over Switzer.

*Somewhere during this time, Dallas acquired Tavon Austin, a standout return man. ... maybe making Switzer expendable/replaceable.

*It's possible that Switzer and Bryant feel there was some sort of Cowboys coaching staff betrayal here. But the Raiders never played him, either, flipping him to Pittsburgh in another trade. He spent two seasons in Pittsburgh, and did play some (46 receptions for 253 yards and one touchdown in his first year there) before the Steelers moved on.

The 5-8 Switzer then spent time on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad in 2020 and 2021 before announcing his retirement from the NFL in 2022 at the age of 27.

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