Are the Cowboys making a mistake with Amari Cooper?

The writing has been on the wall about Amari Cooper and his future with the Dallas Cowboys for some time now. When the team signed him to a 5 year, $100 million dollar extension in 2020, it was evident that it was essentially a 2 year deal. The structure of the contract made it relatively easy for the Cowboys to move on from Amari and yet incur minimal salary cap ramifications. That is why no Dallas Cowboys fan should be surprised at all by this alleged move. How it is being handled by the front office, with the Cowboys publicly announcing their intentions and half heartedly seeking a trade, is certainly not ideal; however, the move itself may not be as bad as some are making it out to be.

First let’s explore a few reasons why this may not be a great move for the Cowboys. Amari Cooper is currently the best wide receiver on the roster. In addition to being the best WR on the team, he is one of the few still technically under contract with Michael Gallup and Cedrick Wilson being free agents. Another reason is the popular opinion that Amari Cooper saved Dak Prescott‘s career when he was acquired in 2018 via trade. Many Cowboys fans (myself included) were not happy about the Amari Cooper trade at the time. The Cowboys had surrendered a first round draft pick for Amari and he was nothing more than a rental player. The team was also struggling at that point and it seemed that one player wouldn’t make that much of a difference, especially a player that had been on a downward trajectory in Oakland. Cowboys fans often forget that Amari was struggling himself towards the end of his time with the Raiders after making the pro-bowl in this first two seasons with his former team. Well, those fans who thought trading for Cooper was a mistake were immediately proven wrong. Dak Prescott was certainly a different quarterback after the trade. He was struggling through the worst slump of his career and Amari Cooper helped build his confidence. The same can be said about Amari who enjoyed the best production of his career during his time in Dallas with Dak Prescott under center. The two seem to really trust each other and Amari Cooper has been a mentor for younger receivers on the team such as CeeDee Lamb. In addition to his production on the field, Amari Cooper has shown a lot of grit and determination playing through various injuries. He is only 27 years old despite having played 7 seasons in the NFL. There are plenty of reasons to argue that the Cowboys should extend or restructure Amari Cooper’s contract and keep him around for a few more years.

There is also a strong argument to support the Cowboys’ decision to move on from Amari Cooper. While it may be true that Amari helped Dak regain his confidence back in 2018, he is not solely responsible for Dak’s success. If the front office truly believes that Dak cannot succeed without Amari, they would not have invested in him with a long term contract. At the end of the day, every organization has to move forward. The smartest thing to do is to commit to the quarterback and replace the skill players. Skill players are depreciating assets that can be much more easily replaced than a franchise quarterback who typically gets better with age. Many of the fans who want the Cowboys to retain Amari Cooper are also having buyers remorse for the contract of a certain star running back currently on the roster. It is true that a wide receiver is a more valued commodity in today’s NFL and Amari Cooper is only 27 years old but he does have more tread on his tires than a typical 27 year old. Amari has battled through injuries his entire career with the Cowboys and he has never actually played through an entire full season with the team. He will turn 28 prior to the start of the season and may have already hit his ceiling. It is better to move on a year too early than a year too late. Think about the many other teams who have recently paid a top tier wide receiver and not received a fair return on the investment such as with Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, and Michael Thomas. None of those pass catchers’ former teams (Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints) have underperformed after losing their star receivers.

Then there are some other intangibles that may further justify the teams’ decision to move on from Amari. Amari is a quiet guy and he seems to be fairly well liked in the locker room. He is considered to be the “anti-diva” wide receiver and yet he has a little diva in him. He was quite vocal about not getting targets when the offence started struggling this season. His criticisms may have been warranted but it is not ideal for players to publicly call out teammates and coaches. Whether that was his intention or not, that is how it came across. He has also been accused by some of his critics for taking plays off. Some examples have been pointed out where it appears he is running lazy routes when he isn’t the intended target or not finishing blocks in the run game. It is possible that those were extremely rare instances and not indicative of his effort on most plays but it could also be a contributing factor in the overall decision. There have also been rumors that the front office was displeased with Cooper’s refusal to get vaccinated which resulted in his missing additional time when he tested positive for COVID-19. All of these other variables outside of his performance on the field could be at play.

Maybe it is in the best interest of the organization to move on from Amari Cooper after all. Does that mean that trading a first round draft pick to acquire him in 2018 was a mistake? I don’t believe so. Even though I did believe it was a mistake at the time I can now say with confidence that I was wrong. The acquisition of Amari Cooper did undoubtedly restore the confidence of quarterback. The team ended up going on a magical run that season and even won a playoff game. That may be a distant memory now but it was valuable experience for the quarterback and other core members of the team. Amari was very productive during his tenure here and provided invaluable mentorship to CeeDee Lamb and some of the other young receivers on the roster. Sure, if they had drafted a player in the first round of the 2018 draft that player may still have been playing on a rookie contract. That player may have even been extended on their own long term deal and been a part of the team for many years to come. But who would they have drafted? They probably would have drafted anywhere from top 10 to top 20 and targeted a WR. Would it have been Marquise Brown or A.J Brown? Would Jerry have rolled the dice on D.K Metcalf? Or even Deebo Samuel? What if it was N’Keal Harry? Would any of those guys have been more productive or a better fit than Amari Cooper would have been? Do you believe Jason Garrett would have had the creativity to use Deebo Samuel the way Kyle Shanahan has? Let’s face it, like Taco Charlton in 2017, the Cowboys could have done a lot worse by drafting a player with their first round pick.

Amari Cooper will not be a Dallas Cowboy for much longer but it sure was a fun ride while it lasted. His time here was short lived but in that time he has left a lasting impression on guys like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. He has also left a lasting impression on all of us Cowboys fans. One day, when the bitterness of his departure wears off, we can reflect on his tenure with team fondly by uttering the phrase “Cooooooooop”.

*Photo by Joe Glorioso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode