Dallas Cowboys must make Amari Cooper the No. 1 receiver, or it’s time to cut ties
For the past couple of off-seasons, the biggest decision the Dallas Cowboys had to make was on Dak Prescott’s contract situation.
As the Cowboys turn their focus toward 2022, the biggest decision is on the man who made Prescott a $40 million quarterback: receiver Amari Cooper.
You can draw a direct line from Cooper’s arrival in the middle of the 2018 season to Prescott’s rise as the unquestioned face of the franchise.
Now, the Cowboys have to decide whether to move on without Cooper.
Vice president Stephen Jones acknowledged as much several times since the end of the 2021 season and reiterated it Monday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
“It’s too early for me to address that yet,” Jones said. “We’re continuing to have conversations. A lot of things affect that. There are some moving parts to that that we’ll have to continue to massage as we move forward. That’s a work in progress for us right now.”
Considering Cooper’s $20 million annual salary and the apparent unwillingness of Prescott, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and the Cowboys’ offense to prioritize him as the team’s No. 1 receiver, it doesn’t seem to be much of a decision at all.
Cooper had just 68 receptions for 865 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games in 2021.
It was a huge decline from the previous two seasons.
Cooper had 92 catches for 1,114 and five touchdowns in 2020 and 79 for 1,189 and eight touchdowns in 2019. And this was after he changed the franchise and the offense with 53 catches for 725 and six touchdowns in eight games after coming over via a trade with the Raiders in 2018.
The numbers just don’t compute for the Cowboys two years after giving him a five-year, $100 million contract.
No receiver made more than Cooper in 2021 yet he wasn’t even the Cowboys’ most targeted or productive receiver. CeeDee Lamb led the Cowboys with 79 catches for 1,102 yards and tight end Dalton Schultz was second in receptions with 78. Lamb had 120 targets to just 104 for Cooper.
Owner Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones have made no secret about their frustration with Cooper’s numbers and his pay as it relates to their looming decision.
“Well, it’s sometimes not all on the receiver, too. It’s scheme. It’s getting the receiver the ball, the touches, the targets that he needs,” Stephen Jones told reporters at the Senior Bowl earlier this month. “But if you’re gonna pay somebody a lot of money, you want them to be the best at what they do.
“Once you pay that player a lot of money, then with that comes high expectations. And they know that. These players know that.”
There is no question that defenses made a point to take Cooper away with coverage, opening things up for Lamb and Schultz. And it doesn’t help that Prescott has been told to spread the ball around and not force it to one receiver.
But Jerry Jones expects more for his money.
“A whole bunch of that defense should have to honor Cooper,” Jones said last month. “And he ought to be able to catch it in the middle of when they’re going with him. Others do. You throw to people that are covered all the time in the NFL. You have to.”
It appears that the Cowboys know what they have to do with Cooper at this point, even though it’s not a decision that will make them better on the field.
The team is $21 million over the salary cap for 2022. They can save $16 million in cap space by cutting or releasing Cooper.
The Cowboys have a month to make the final decision; if he is on the roster March 20 then his $20 million salary for 2022 is fully guaranteed.
This decision and day was inevitable from the moment they signed Cooper before the 2020 season, making it essentially a two-year deal with intention of revisiting the situation before Year 3.
Here we are.
Now, there are other moves they can make to clear cap room. Restructuring Prescott’s contract to gain about $15.1 million in relief is an automatic button they plan on pushing.
They can create further room by releasing tight end Blake Jarwin and cornerback Anthony Brown. Asking defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence to take a pay cut from his $19 million salary is also on the table.
The Cooper decision is even more critical considering the Cowboys need money to try and keep some of their own free agents, namely defensive end Randy Gregory, Schultz, safety Jayron Kearse, plus make some outside additions.
But there is no one the Cowboys can re-sign or add who are better at what they do than Cooper.
So this is not a question of talent or what’s best for the offense because the Cowboys are not a better football team without Cooper.
But it is one of finances not fitting the scheme.
“I just think it’s an offensive philosophy and when we had the players that we had, between Kellen and Dak, there was a progression of where you threw the ball,” said Stephen Jones in again attempting to explain Cooper’s declining numbers in 2021. “Depending on how the defense played you it would point the ball to certain places. If they are going to double over here and they are going to double over the top over here, that is going to dictate that the ball goes here. So, I think it’s more of a system deal.”
And if the Cowboys are going to pay him like the best receiver in the NFL but not maximize his production, then what is the point.
Actually, that is precisely the point.
Jones said Cooper not being a priority in the system will impact the final decision on his future with the team at that salary.
“All that plays into how we invest,” Jones said.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
