Cole Beasley

Cole Dickson Beasley (born April 26, 1989) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent.

SMU would win the 2009 Hawaii Bowl marking their first bowl invitation since the so-called death penalty.

As a junior, Beasley posted 87 receptions (second for a single-season in school history), 1,060 yards and six touchdowns.

As a senior, Beasley registered 86 receptions for 1,040 yards (second on the team) and two touchdowns.

He played college football at Southern Methodist University and was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2012.

He also played three seasons for the Buffalo Bills before retiring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022.

He came out of retirement a few months later in the season to re-sign with the Bills.

Beasley attended Little Elm High School, where he was an option quarterback, leading the Lobos to the Texas UIL-4A playoffs in consecutive years.

Among his teammates at Little Elm was Trevante Rhodes.

Beasley was a district co-MVP, posting 1,184 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 1,570 passing yards, and 12 touchdowns.

He was rated as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com.

Beasley accepted a scholarship from Southern Methodist University, where he was converted into a wide receiver, playing in 11 games with seven starts as a freshman, while finishing third on the team with 42 receptions for 366 yards and three touchdowns.

As a sophomore, Beasley started seven games, making 40 receptions (fourth on the team) for 493 yards and three touchdowns.

Beasley went undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft due to his size and was signed by his hometown team, the Dallas Cowboys.

Beasley left abruptly during training camp, stating he was dealing with "personal stuff", and even considered retiring from professional football.

Beasley went on to have a sudden change of heart, returning and making the final 53-man roster.

Beasley finished his rookie year with 15 receptions for 128 yards in ten games and no starts.

Beasley found ways to be productive while being surrounded by a solid corps of wide receivers, having the highest completion percentage of any receiver in the NFL with more than 10 targets.

He was targeted by quarterback Tony Romo on third down, especially in spread formations.

Much of this became attributed to Beasley's very good route running.

Beasley finished his second professional season with 39 receptions for 368 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 79 return yards in 14 games and three starts.

In 2014, Beasley posted 37 receptions (fourth on the team) for 420 yards (fourth on the team) and four touchdowns in 16 games and two starts.

He averaged nearly 50 yards per game during the final six contests of the season.

In the Wild Card Round against the Detroit Lions, Beasley made four catches – three for first downs- for 63 yards and recovered a fumble in the 24–20 victory.

On March 3, the Cowboys signed Beasley for an additional four years, with a total contract value of $13.6 million.

With leading receiver Dez Bryant injured for most of the season, Beasley finished with 52 receptions (tied for second on the team) for 537 yards and five touchdowns (led the team), while playing with four different starting quarterbacks with varying degrees of knowledge of the team's offense.

At the beginning of the year Beasley was used to fill in as a punt returner, due to his ball security ability.

Beasley was eventually replaced by rookie Lucky Whitehead after having poor return averages and a critical muffed punt in a loss against the New York Giants.

In 2016, Beasley posted career highs in receptions and yards, catching 75 passes for 833 yards and five touchdowns.

His 76.5% catch rate ranked second among NFL wide receivers in 2016.

In the Divisional Round against the Green Bay Packers, Beasley made four catches for 45 yards and had eight return yards in the 34–31 loss.

In the 2017 season, Beasley finished with 36 receptions for 314 yards and four touchdowns.

Beasley began the 2018 season with seven receptions for 73 yards in a 16–8 road loss to the Carolina Panthers.

During Week 6 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had nine receptions for 101 yards and two touchdowns in the 40–7 victory.

In the regular-season finale against the New York Giants, he caught six passes for 94 yards along with the game-winning touchdown in the narrow 36–35 road victory.

Beasley finished the 2018 season with 65 receptions for 672 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games and four starts.

The Cowboys won the NFC East and earned the #4-seed in the NFC Playoffs.

In the Wild Card Round against the Seattle Seahawks, Beasley had three receptions for 28 yards in the 24–22 victory.

In the Divisional Round against the Los Angeles Rams, he had a 15-yard reception in the 30–22 road loss.

On March 13, 2019, Beasley signed a four-year, $29 million contract with the Buffalo Bills.