Cowboys reportedly set on making huge mistake by cutting Amari Cooper
By Jerry Trotta
The Dallas Cowboys were always going to be forced into impossible decisions given they’re $22 million over the cap.
When it comes to Amari Cooper, though, it felt like his future was decided without much pushback from anyone in the front office.
The moment the season ended, owner Jerry Jones was noncommittal about Cooper’s future. Fast forward to this week’s Combine and executive vice president Stephen Jones basically declined to comment on the four-time Pro Bowler.
For any fans who predicted that these comments, or lack thereof, confirmed Cooper’s exit, you unfortunately hit the nail on the head.
On Friday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Cooper is expected to be released before the start of the new league year. The move would save the Cowboys $16 million against the cap and they’d swallow just $6 million in dead money.
Cowboys are “likely” to release WR Amari Copper by the start of the new league year, per league sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 4, 2022
Cooper is due $20 million in fully guaranteed money on the fifth day of the new league year, March 20.
The Cowboys will reportedly cut wide receiver Amari Cooper.
We all know money was the motivation behind this decision and this day has seemingly been looming ever since Cooper re-signed with the Cowboys during the 2020 offseason. But kicking Dak Prescott’s top receiver and your offense’s most important non-QB to the curb isn’t conducive to team success.
During the brief time Cooper, CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup have played together, statistics prove Cooper was by far the best of the bunch. Is Lamb ready to assume No. 1 duties? What does this mean for Kellen Moore, whose yet to run an elite offense as Dallas’ coordinator without Cooper in the fold?
It’d be one thing if the Cowboys had a wild card up their sleeve, but their reported justification for releasing Cooper coincides with offering Michael Gallup, who’s on the mend from ACL surgery, a long-term deal, per Yahoo’s Charles Robinson.
Part of the plan here, I’m told from a league source, is buttoning up a long term deal for Michael Gallup. #Cowboys felt it was an either/or and are making Gallup the priority. https://t.co/3eUp7ffIRR
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 4, 2022
With all due respect to Gallup, how did he come out on top in this either/or? If money was the bottom line, then Jerry and Stephen Jones are more unfit to run this organization than we previously thought, and that’s saying something.
The Jones’ might be short on memory, but Cowboys fans certainly haven’t forgot that Cooper saved Prescott amid a nervy 2018 and helped develop him into the star he is today. Intentionally disposing of Cooper and collecting nothing in return but cap space borders on franchise malpractice.
Cooper’s release has been written in the stars for quite some time, but it doesn’t make it any less maddening from a fan’s standpoint. At the end of the day, he’s a 27-year-old receiver who has four 1,000-yard seasons under his belt, is an elite route runner and is always willing to play through injury.
Eligible to sign a new deal elsewhere, Cooper will have a huge market and the team that lands his signature will be better for it. We just hope it’s not Washington or Philadelphia that make the Cowboys regret doing this, though it would serve the Jones family right for coming to this dimwitted settlement in the first place.
