Door just swung wide open for Cowboys to undo Amari Cooper disaster

The Dallas Cowboys are experiencing an injury crisis just as they're about to hit the most difficult stretch of their schedule. A Sunday Night Football matchup against the Steelers is on deck and that is arguably the easiest game Dallas will play until the end of November.

While the Cowboys need to bring in reinforcements at defensive end, other positions like running back, wide receiver and nose tackle have ample room for improvement. The WR position is an increasingly worrisome state of affairs.

Brandin Cooks is starting to look his age. He started the season with a bang - four catches for 40 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. In the last three games, though, Cooks has a combined five catches for 51 yards and zero scores.

The lack of threat from the WR2 spot has made Dak Prescott's job extremely difficult. Well, what if we told you that it is suddenly possible for Dallas to reunite Prescott with one of his former favorite weapons and a player whom Cowboys fans have missed dearly?

Cowboys have unexpected opportunity to trade for Amari Cooper

In a surprising move, the Browns converted nearly all of Cooper's salary into a signing bonus. This makes Cooper, who has been subject to trade rumors for the last month, even more affordable before the Nov. 5 deadline.

Per Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac, Cooper will cost just $605,000 after the deadline. For a team that loves to cry poverty (see Jerry Jones' comments about Derrick Henry), Cooper will carry less than a $942,000 cap hit if he's traded before becoming a free agent in 2025.

This is a match made in heaven for the Cowboys, who never should have traded Cooper to begin with. At the time Cooper was shipped to Cleveland for pocket change, CeeDee Lamb wasn't due for an extension for another full season. In typical Dallas fashion, they waited until 2024 to sign Lamb, which made the decision to offload Cooper all the more puzzling.

Rather than pay Cooper's $20 million salary, which has aged beautifully, the Cowboys chose to extend Michael Gallup, who was coming off a torn ACL. Gallup was never the same player post-surgery and he was a post-June 1 cut this offseason.

Cooper, meanwhile, has produced consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Browns to go with 16 touchdowns in 36 games.

His production has plummeted this year, though, largely due to poor play from quarterback Deshaun Watson. The five-time Pro Bowler has 16 catches for 148 yards and two TDs on the year. The Browns' season could spiral out of control after they dropped to 1-3 on Sunday. It makes sense why they are seemingly setting the table to trade Cooper.

It's not like Jerry or Stephen Jones to admit to a mistake, but Dak Prescott is going to have to carry the team on his shoulders in light of the injuries to Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. While Prescott is playing at a high level, he needs more support. A lot more.

Good luck finding a potential savior than Cooper.

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