When it comes to trading for wide receivers, the Dallas Cowboys don’t exactly have the best track record. That is why I wasn’t all that happy to hear the Cowboy sent their 2019 first-round draft pick to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for Amari Cooper, especially knowing how a couple of trades just like this have worked out in the past.
Giving up a first-round draft pick is a tough pill to swallow, especially after we saw the New England Patriots acquire Josh Gordon for just a fifth rounder. Talk about a slap in the face. I personally believe Gordon is a better WR than Cooper, but that’s a discussion for another time. What I want to talk about today is history hopefully not repeating itself for the Cowboys.
Unfortunately, the Amari Cooper trade looks a lot like a couple of wide receiver trades the Dallas Cowboys have made in the past. Yes, I’m talking about the acquisitions of Roy Williams and Joey Galloway, arguably the worst two trades in Cowboys history.
You may have forgotten, but the Dallas Cowboys sent to first-round draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks in a trade to acquire Joey Galloway back in 2000. He spent three whole seasons and part of a fourth in Dallas and never really lived up to the expectations he brought with him from the Seahawks. His most productive season with the Cowboys was in 2002 where he caught 61 passes for 908 yards and six touchdowns, hardly worth two first round draft picks.
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t learn their lesson from the Joey Galloway trade and decided to throw caution to the wind once again when they acquired Roy Williams in 2008 from the Detroit Lions. Williams only spent three seasons in Dallas and like Galloway, didn’t live up to the 1st, 3rd, and 6th round draft picks traded away to acquire him.
I really don’t know how all of you feel about history repeating itself, but the Amari Cooper trade just has way too many similarities to the acquisitions of Roy Williams and Joey Galloway for me to have too much hope of it being successful. I guess we could take a little solace in the fact the Cowboys just gave up one draft pick if that helps any.
Amari Cooper has about a year and a half with the Dallas Cowboys to prove the organization doesn’t have some kind of curse when it comes to trading for wide receivers. He becomes a free agent in 2020 unless an extension is worked out before hand. It’s not a lot of time to prove oneself, especially since he’s joining a new team with a new QB, but that’s the situation he finds himself in now.
