Amari Cooper

This is why over the next few weeks the Dallas Cowboys should be focusing on Amari Cooper’s next contract above all others

The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of personnel decisions to make over the next 12 months. With Dak Prescott, Byron Jones, Jaylon Smith, Amari Cooper, and DeMarcus Lawrence all looking for brand new mega-deals, Stephen Jones and the Dallas front office has no time to waste.

And while resolving the Lawrence situation is the most pressing, and locking up Dak Prescott is the most important, it’s Amari Cooper who should be the primary focus right now. Here’s why…

Cooper

I think it’s safe to say the Dallas Cowboys fully intend on re-signing Amari Cooper. Last season we saw firsthand what this offense looks like without a No. 1 receiver and no one whats to see that again. Blessed with an elite skill set and an anti-diva personality (a rarity in the WR ranks), Cooper is exactly the kind of player a team looks for in a cornerstone player.

There’s no debate over “if” the Dallas Cowboys will re-sign Cooper, the only debate now is over “when” and for “how much”. Based on the annual inflationary costs of free agency, we can safely say the cost of doing business rises each and every year. That’s why it makes no sense to wait this out.

The Dollars and Sense

Why would Amari Cooper take priority over Dak, Tank, Jaylon, and Byron?

Because of the money, it makes the most sense to handle now. Amari Cooper is playing on his fifth year option of $13,924,000, all of which counts against the cap this season, inhibiting what the Cowboys can do financially. Signing Cooper to a multi-year extension allows them to spread the money out and free more cash to get deals done this season (particularly with Dak Prescott).

IF THE COWBOYS CAN ADDRESS COOP, THEY’LL HAVE MONEY TO GIVE DAK, AND KILL TIME UNTIL TANK IS READY TO NEGOTIATE AGAIN.

Conventional wisdom says DeMarcus Lawrence should get done first since he’s also clogging up the cap with his $20 million franchise tag. But all indications are talks have reached a stalemate and likely won’t seriously resume again until this summer when the deadline for a deal gets closer.

League wide, it’s rare any deal gets done for a franchised player over the spring, and it’s almost always (if at all) around training camp when anything gets agreed upon.

Proactively coming to an agreement with Cooper now, will free funds to negotiate with Dak. And none of it will have a negative impact their ability to re-sign Tank long-term later when tank is ready to negotiate again.

Why not wait?

I think we all know the answer to this one. The Dallas Cowboys waited on DeMarcus Lawrence last offseason and look where it got them. They could have proactively locked him up long-term for considerably less than what he’s asking for today (which I suspect is more than what Khalil Mack is making).

More importantly, putting this situation off until next year means the Dallas Cowboys will have the impossible task of retaining multiple franchise cornerstones with only one franchise tag at their disposal. The last time the Cowboys a situation even remotely close to this, DeMarco Murray walked out the door.

Resolving as many contracts as possible this offseason will make next offseason manageable. If the Cowboys can address Coop, they’ll have money to give Dak, and kill time until Tank is ready to negotiate again. With any luck, the Dallas Cowboys will enter the 2020 offseason with just Byron Jones and Jaylon Smith as unrestricted free agents – considerably more manageable than what 2020 looks like today should the Cowboys do nothing.

Dak Prescott and DeMarcus Lawrence may be more important to re-sign but given the stalemate in Lawrence’s negotiations, and time/space needed for Dak, handling Cooper’s contract now makes sense for all of the players involved

It’s a Monday. It’s cold and rainy, and you’re headed back to work after a week-long vacation from [pick a place], where it’s 85 and sunny all year long.

After the amazing week the Mavericks had leading up to the NBA trade deadline, going back to Cowboys talk and reflecting on the 2018 Cowboys’ campaign seems to feel pretty similar. However, in the name of moving forward, I believe discussions such as these are important to have.

The Cooper trade saved Dallas’ season…

Adding his skills to the offense brought an element of speed and technicality in his route-running which was everything in the Cowboys’ 7-1 run into the postseason. He fit like a glove onto the starting lineup, found his connection with Dak, rejuvenated the run game, and has been everything the Cowboys needed plus more.

The premise of that trade and the circumstances surrounding it don’t instill a lot of confidence in me for a number of reasons, foremost of which being the fact that it all started with Jerry and the Cowboys brass having to openly admit their transgressions after hammering it home all offseason that the WR corps they had signed was going to surprise everyone. On a year in which coaching ability on the sideline was already being called into question, it seemed after starting 3-5 on the season and losing to Tennessee at home that the only people who were surprised by the lack of efficiency on offense was the organization itself. So rather than Dallas being in a position where they could decide to pin their ears back and sign a player they knew was going to propel them towards a championship, this trade was predicated entirely upon saving face and keeping fans from jumping ship. It just wasn’t a “feel-good” moment, the way you would want a blockbuster trade like this to be.

Another element to this trade which has already been over-discussed has been the price. There was a lot of shakeup in the WR market this past offseason and going into 2018, and it doesn’t take expert analysis to make a valid argument about Dallas overpaying for Cooper. When Cleveland can get Jarvis Landry for a fourth and seventh, New England two consecutive years can drop mid-round picks for names like Brandin Cooks and Josh Gordon, Dallas having to shell out a first-rounder for a player who has seemingly under-produced his past two seasons in the league bolsters the argument that Dallas needed to make this trade happen. The only other receiver in the league to be offered up for a first-rounder this past season was Cooks in his trade to the Rams-a proven WR1 and one of the top players at his postion- for a first and seventh rounder. However costly the move may have been, given their need for offensive weapons and the lack of options in the first round of next year’s draft, the Cooper trade ultimately ends up looking like a stroke of genius on the part of the Cowboys and less so for the Raiders, who surely thought that pick would be higher than 27th.

There are a lot of elements to consider when trying to fully evaluate the Amari Cooper trade, and it is really isn’t easy to fully qualify. Props to the organization for making it happen though, because it ended up paying dividends almost immediately and helped drag the Cowboys back from the depths.

When Amari Cooper got a call from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones Monday night to inform him he was being added to the Pro Bowl roster for the NFC team, he initially didn’t know what to expect.

The last time the wide receiver got an unexpected call from Jones was when he was called off the practice field and traded from the Oakland Raiders to the Cowboys during the bye week.

“I was at my house in Dallas,” Cooper said Wednesday following the first practice for Sunday’s Pro Bowl in Orlando. “They text me and told me that Jerry wanted to talk to me. I didn’t know what that was about. I was sleeping when they text me. I woke up an hour later and saw the text. That was like the same words I got when I got traded. I text back, I got the call and then he told me.”

Asked if he is looking forward to any more calls from Jones, Cooper said, “You know what, every time I’ve got a phone call from Jerry it turned out to be good, so yeah.”

The first call definitely turned out good. It’s safe to say if not for the first call from Jones, he wouldn’t have gotten a call at all to be at the Pro Bowl.

While this is his third trip to the Pro Bowl — he made it his first two years with the Raiders — things weren’t trending positively for him in Oakland.

That he could revive his game and his career following the trade to Dallas and make the Pro Bowl makes this trip even more special.

“It’s very special in that way that you described,” Cooper said. “Not many people have switched teams in the middle of the season and reached 1,000 yards or been able to make it to the Pro Bowl. It’s really special.”

Cooper caught 22 passes for 281 yards and one touchdown with the Raiders before exploding for 53 catches for 725 yards and six touchdowns after being traded to the Cowboys.

He enjoyed playing football again. It’s a little wonder the supposedly quiet Cooper was one of the last players on the practice field Wednesday during interviews an hour after practice ended.

“It was a lot of fun,” Cooper said. “I had fun doing it. I had fun with my teammates with my new team. It was a very smooth transition. That’s how I would describe it. It was just fun. The love of the game, playing football, it was everything you could imagine as a football player.

“I’m really excited about going into next season. I wish the season could start now because that’s how excited I am.”

Cooper had no comment about firing offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and the direction the Cowboys might go in. He said it’s a situation he is used to because he had a number of different coordinators in college at Alabama and with the Raiders before coming to the Cowboys.

“I didn’t have a problem with the offense,” Cooper said. “I liked where the offense was at. Obviously, I was able to be more productive than I was in Oakland. I’m not one to complain about what’s going on. I guess it’s part of the business. Any time you fall short of the ultimate goal, which is winning the Super Bowl, there’s room for improvement. I guess that’s the way that the organization was looking at things.”

Cooper said he’s not worried about any of that. He has big plans of his own.

He can’t wait to start his offseason training and get more comfortable with quarterback Dak Prescott. His focus next season is to become the best receiver in the NFL.

“I’m excited to try to go out there and be a great football player. To make a whole bunch of plays. To be the best receiver in the league. That’s what I’m really excited about. I can see it. And I believe I can do it.”

Oakland Raiders Mark Davis showered praise on wide receiver Amari Cooper at the Winter League Meeting.

The compliment came with a caveat, though, as Davis indicated Cooper didn’t fit head coach Jon Gruden’s scheme before a decision was made to ship Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2019 first-round pick.

“He was a great, great player,” Davis said, via Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram. “We always had the fastest guy on the field no matter what. It just didn’t work out in our system.”

Cooper had an opportunity Thursday to address the owner’s comments, and he stirred the pot when he revealed the final decision on the trade didn’t come from Gruden or then-general manager Reggie McKenzie.

Instead, Cooper said Davis stepped in and overruled Gruden and McKenzie.

“They were getting calls about a first for next year and they weren’t going to do it,” Cooper said. “But when [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones called about a first for this year he felt he had no choice.”

The trade has clearly worked out in the Cowboys’ favor.

With Cooper in the lineup, the Cowboys’ offense has blossomed and the team has an 8-5 record after starting 3-4 before Cooper’s arrival.

Cooper has energized the passing game in six games, totaling 40 catches for 642 yards and six touchdowns, including a monster 217 yards receiving and three-touchdown performance in Week 14.

Meanwhile, the Raiders are 3-10 and no wide receiver on the roster has eclipsed 500 yards entering Week 15. Tight end Jared Cook leads the team with 825 yards receiving.

If Cooper, who has 922 total yards receiving this season split between the Cowboys and Raiders (280), sustains the production into the future, there will likely be trader remorse with his former team.

“In the future, we might be saying, ‘Damn’,” Davis said.

The Dallas Cowboys made a great effort to win the NFC East. They came back from 3-5 to take the division title in week 16 and are headed to the Playoffs for the third time in five years. They topped it all by clinching the division title beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-20 last Sunday.

I hope you enjoy this week’s takeaways, this time on a special holiday. Merry Christmas to you all!

Randy Gregory is playing as well as any other DE in the league

It seems like Randy Gregory is popping more and more on headlines lately. There’s a reason for that. His play continues to be impressive, but man, his performance versus the Buccaneers was amazing. He constantly pressured Jameis Winston and finished with one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. The fumble he forced set up a touchdown by Jaylon Smith, who made an amazing job returning the ball.

In his last nine games, Randy Gregory has racked up five sacks, two forced fumbles and 13 QB hits. It’s great to see him succeed so much after so many off-field issues. Great to have you back, Mr. Gregory!

Defense continues to overcome adversity

Remember when defense in Dallas was widely recognized as a “bend-but-don’t-break” unit? Those days are long gone. The 2018 Cowboys’ defense is legit and has managed to prove itself time and time again this season. Last Sunday, the offense wasn’t even able to control the time of possession. Even still, with all the time the defense spent on the field, they didn’t break.

On top of that, poor calls from the referees swarmed the game. A blatant personal foul called on Xavier Woods for a clean hit, a defensive delay of game on DeMarcus Lawrence and no-calls on the Bucs’ offense could’ve ruined this defense’s performance… but it didn’t.

The defense’s effort prevailed, and they even managed to get a defensive touchdown and set up another easy score for the Cowboys’ offense. This truly is a defense that enables the Cowboys to win any game against any opponent.

Cowboys should feed Cooper way more

Amari Cooper’s time in Dallas started at full speed, catching for six touchdowns and over 600 yards in his first six games with the team. Since then, he’s had eight receptions for a mere 52 yards total. Whether it is teams catching up and focusing their man power on him, poor play calling from Scott Linehan or Dak Prescott deciding not to throw it his way, this is something that must change.

Michael Gallup and Cole Beasley combined for 103 yards versus Tampa Bay, while Cooper only totaled 20 yards in four catches (five targets). Dallas should treat Cooper as a play maker and feed him more and more in the Playoffs. It’s the spark this offense needs, and it showed during the Cowboys’ five game winning streak. This is a guy who should be having 10+ catches per game, not less than five. Paired with a premium rushing attack, the Cowboys need to figure it out before January football arrives to increase their chances at a legit run for the Lombardi Trophy.

Brett Maher deserves our trust

It’s been an odd ride for Kicker Brett Maher in Dallas. He missed his first field goal attempt as a Cowboy, then went into a hot streak, then provided inconsistent results. However, over the last three weeks, he’s managed to make some pretty impressive field goals. Versus the Philadelphia Eagles, he established a franchise record with a 62-yard successful FG. Versus Tampa Bay, he went two for two, including an impressive 59-yard attempt.

I’m done doubting this guy. I think it’s time Cowboys Nation trusts him completely. Come the Playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys will do so. To think most fans criticized this team for moving on from Dan Bailey. In hindsight, the front office nailed this decision.