After three and a half seasons in Dallas, Amari Cooper's time there appears to be coming to an end. Within that time he was one of the best receivers in the league. With a stat line of 3,893 yards and 27 touchdowns in that time frame, he earned himself a hefty payday. In fact, this contract would make him the highest-paid receiver in the NFL in terms of the contract value.
Despite his success and impact in the last several seasons, Adam Schefter reported that the Cowboys are likely to release the star wideout. With several large contracts on the books, Cooper's proved to be too large. Luckily for Dallas, upcoming free agent, Michael Gallup appears close to a contract extension to keep him home.
However, what if Dallas was able to trade Cooper? One of the NFL's best wide receivers, many teams would be excited about the chance to acquire him. Of course, the price tag complicates matters as only a few teams can afford his massive contract. For the teams that can, he could pay massive dividends.
Heading back home?
One of the teams with plenty of cap space for Cooper would be the Jacksonville Jaguars. With second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence as the centerpiece of their team, they need to add weapons. The chance to add a proven number one wideout doesn't present itself often. As such, they would likely be willing to take the chance. Especially when they have the third-most cap space in the NFL.
This would also be somewhat of a return home for Cooper who is a native of Miami, Florida. While he doesn't have a no-trade clause, we have seen players force themselves out of trades in the past. Cooper is not likely to do this with the Jaguars.
Is it worth it?
If the two options for the Cowboys are a trade or outright releasing him, the trade obviously makes much more sense. When Dallas traded for Cooper back in 2018, it cost them a first-round pick. At that time, however, he was still on his rookie contract. Now getting paid twenty million per year, he is likely to fetch a day two pick especially since he will be released otherwise.
With Amari Cooper just 27 years old and two years removed from his massive contract extension, it is shocking that the Cowboys are looking to move on. After a cascade of questionable roster decisions, however, it is necessary. Rather than release him and lose him for nothing, a trade makes the most sense. One of the first calls they make should be with the Jaguars.
Can we trade Stephen Jones instead? Since Jimmy Johnson’s players retired he’s been a failure. 3 Wild Card wins? Pathetic. His only qualification for the job is he has 1/2 his father’s DNA. Without Jimmy’s players, Jerry has been a failure as GM too. Therefore the DNA is defective
His present qualifications for the job include education, playing college football, and years spent in an NFL front office after connections got him started…you know, same as numerous front office guys. This might come as a surprise to you, but SJ had much less influence on the direction of the roster through 2010; before that fell mostly on his father. The only thing defective is hateful, lazy, poorly informed complaining.
It would make since to restructure Coopers contract which will give us 12 or 13 million in cap relief this year, which is only 3 or 4 million less than what we would get if we traded or cut him!! I think that keeping him is worth losing out on that extra 3 or 4 million!!
I for one think that if we loose AC we better have a stud that can come in and take over the load! I just don’t see CD or MG filling the void if AC leaves!
Folks, his contract was setup to cut him this offseason. It’s the same story every year let’s find a player Amari Cooper or Dez Bryant to vilify and send some leaks to the media and we can cut him and move on. Classic Steven Jones work here. From Jerry Jones holding press conference’s after every game to sitting in on the coaches meetings. To Steven handing out these lousy contracts and then conveniently blaming the salary cap or the player. I am fed up with this toxic culture and so are ex players who speak up. This franchise is the most valuable of all teams. In any sport. Do you really believe they are about to change anything just for us poor sucker’s that support ther Cowboys?