Dallas Cowboys: Free agency boosting price for Amari Cooper
Recent activity in the WR market is poised to help Dallas Cowboys WR Amari Cooper get paid. When is a veteran player better than one with a rookie contract?
Another year of free agency inactivity by the Dallas Cowboys hasn’t been too bad. Cowboy Nation has been a quiet observer as the competition in the NFC East self destruct. Clearly, the most dominant story in the NFL headlines is the departure of wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. leaving the New York Giants for the Cleveland Browns.
The Beckham move means that the Cowboys’ Amari Cooper is currently the best wide receiver in the NFC East. That’s even after the 32-year old wide receiver, DeSean Jackson returned to the Philadelphia Eagles from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Initially, I thought Jackson was going to sign a contract for one day and then retire as a green turk, uhm Eagle.
The Cowboys have been set on building the team with the NFL draft,. This strategy creates three to five year windows, where general managers can combine fresh talent from rookies with experienced veterans into a salary cap friendly team that wins a championship. The Cowboys offense featuring quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott and wide receiver Michael Gallop all playing on rookie contracts is a very team friendly combination.
Cooper signed his 4 year, $22 million dollar rookie contract with the Oakland Raiders. Cooper earned $412K in 2018. Heading into the 2019 season, Cooper is scheduled to earn nearly $14 million. The Raiders financial situation and long term plans aren’t exactly like the Cowboys. The Raiders just signed 30-year old, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown to a 3 year, $50 million dollar contract.
Looking across the league, six wide receivers have contracts that average more than $16 million per season. In my opinion, they aren’t the best six receivers in the league: Beckham, Brown, Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, Brandin Cooks and Sammy Watkins are all in the $16 million receiver club. Falcons’ receiver Julio Jones is earning an average of $14.25 million a year.
Amari Cooper’s rookie deal puts him at an average salary of $5.7 million per season. Soon, Cooper could be requesting a 4 year contract worth $60 million. Meanwhile, the player the Cowboys could have selected with their first round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft might be earning $4 – $6 million per season.
That’s the moment I will wonder if the Amari Cooper trade was a smart move. I’m a value shopper, so I’m a little biased toward good players at great prices. I have to ask, when is a veteran better than a player on a rookie contract?
I’m not pretending to be a salary cap expert. I tend to consider the financials until the Cowboys win the Super Bowl. If Cooper has a game winning touchdown catch that brings home that sixth Lombardi trophy, I will consider the entire front office to consist of geniuses and nothing else will really matter! So let’s hope that happens.
Next. Dallas Cowboys - 15 best free agent acquisitions of all-time. dark
On an additional note, I have to give credit to all of the Adobe Photoshop experts on the internet that are capable of putting players in new uniforms. If anyone knows how to put Cowboys future Hall of Fame safety Jeff Heath in a gold jacket, please feel free to share that picture on my Facebook page.
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