Cowboys "likely" to release WR Amari Cooper at start of league year

[SilverNBlackFan]

Coop is one of those guys where you'll look back at the end of the season, and he'll have his 1,000 yards and 6-8 TDs but you'll just come away thinking he was capable of much more. Even with all the receiving talent in the league these days, I still think talent wise Coop is top 10-15. He does almost everything you want from a WR pretty well but he just leaves something to be desired. 

Just a guy who hasn't truly put it all together yet. Whether it's durability issues, qb chemistry issues, and maybe his own mentality he just hasn't taken it to the next level. And for 20 mill per, you better have all that and more so I saw this coming especially with Lamb emerging.

Still only 27 damn I think coop is going to get paid again.

[jrry32]

1 hour ago, MWil23 said:

I don't know what's worse, that he's past his prime and overpaid or that I want the Browns to scoop him up.

Past his prime? He hasn't turned 28 yet.

1 hour ago, Deadpulse said:

If the market is right, could be a nice bargain grab for a veteran piece in an offense. God knows Mac could benefit from having a guy with his hands and route running in there. Like @.Buzz mentioned in the movement thread, the WR market is looking like itll be thin, especially since this move likely coincides with Gallup being locked up by Dallas. 

He's not going to be a bargain. 

49 minutes ago, Forge said:

Not unusual to announce a cut and then trade a guy. But if you're a team with receiver issues why wouldn't you throw a sixth to guarantee you get him before Dallas cuts him? Convert base into signing bonus this year if you need to and he'll be fairly cheap for the first year. 

Well, the $20 million base salaries in the future would not make it easy if you want him long term.

45 minutes ago, Forge said:

Like, if you're Jax...with a ton of money and a bad need at the receiver position...

you're legitimately just not going to give up anything for Cooper before he's cut and run the risk that he'll just sign elsewhere? 

That's nearly as bad as Dallas just outright cutting the guy. 

Watch Detroit. This is the sort of guy the Rams would have gone after in the past. Because he's a cut, he doesn't count against you in the comp pick formula.

[Forge]

Just now, jrry32 said:

Well, the $20 million base salaries in the future would not make it easy if you want him long term.

Cap is set to explode. I think OTC already projecting next years at 20 million higher than this year. I'm not overly concerned about that specific part (especially if you don't restructure this year because you could always restructure next year). If it's a one year failed run, likely no biggie as a day 3 pick in return. I just think that a team like Jax or Chicago has to do something like this to help out a franchise guy (Jax especially is likely to have to overpay on the market to bring anyone in regardless) 

[jrry32]

2 minutes ago, Forge said:

Cap is set to explode. I think OTC already projecting next years at 20 million higher than this year. I'm not overly concerned about that specific part (especially if you don't restructure this year because you could always restructure next year). If it's a one year failed run, likely no biggie as a day 3 pick in return. I just think that a team like Jax or Chicago has to do something like this to help out a franchise guy (Jax especially is likely to have to overpay on the market to bring anyone in regardless) 

I'd strongly consider it if I'm Detroit. But you still don't want to have a guy who isn't a true #1 WR counting $20+ million against your cap. That's the complication.

[Chiefs_5627]

30 minutes ago, Ty21 said:

How does he do it?

One day at a time. 

[.Buzz]

12 minutes ago, jrry32 said:

I'd strongly consider it if I'm Detroit. But you still don't want to have a guy who isn't a true #1 WR counting $20+ million against your cap. That's the complication.

I think if he hits the open market he likely gets close to that amount tbh. $16-$17M per I’d guess.

As @Forgesaid, if a team is desperate to land one of top guys (which appears to be Coop and ARob now, maybe Kirk (who isn’t on either of there levels), and you have zero cap troubles the next couple years, I make a move with a late round pick and keep him happy at that number.

[.Buzz]

Guess that answers that though. Personally, if I’m the Jaguars, unless I’m way off on his market #/what he’ll get when he’s released, I’d still be fine taking him at his current salary to secure him.

[brownie man]

Browns need to make this move. 
 

combine Amari with WR at 13 and restructure Jarvis. We’re cooking. Amari is still young. He’s actually where we need him to be as we’re trying to win now. 
 

3 year 48 million let’s get it done 

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

People want to crap on Cooper, but he is a top 15 WR aka he is a #1 guy. Does he have flaws? There is no question, but the reason he is being removed is purely because Dallas overpaid him and many other players as well. Many forget Dak was looking really rough in 2017/2018 until they traded for Cooper and magically his play improved again.

Cutting Cooper to pay Gallup and keep Zeke is just.... bizarre. 

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

38 minutes ago, .Buzz said:

I think if he hits the open market he likely gets close to that amount tbh. $16-$17M per I’d guess.

As @Forgesaid, if a team is desperate to land one of top guys (which appears to be Coop and ARob now, maybe Kirk (who isn’t on either of there levels), and you have zero cap troubles the next couple years, I make a move with a late round pick and keep him happy at that number.

Cooper and Mike Williams should be the two guys getting the biggest bucks in FA.

Edit: I'm assuming Godwin doesn't change teams and TB pays him as well.

Edited March 4, 2022 by AZ_Eaglesfan

[Matts4313]

13 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

People want to crap on Cooper, but he is a top 15 WR aka he is a #1 guy. Does he have flaws? There is no question, but the reason he is being removed is purely because Dallas overpaid him and many other players as well. Many forget Dak was looking really rough in 2017/2018 until they traded for Cooper and magically his play improved again.

Dont forget that "rough" 2017 Dak was statistically tied with "MVP" Wentz all the way up until the Falcons game (#9) when our OL fell apart. 

And I dont mean they were ballpark close. "Rough" Dak and "MVP" Wentz had virtually the same exact stats all the way across the board (yards, TDs, turnovers, rating, etc). 

13 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

Cutting Cooper to pay Gallup and keep Zeke is just.... bizarre. 

We cant cut Zeke this year. His salary is guaranteed. We cant cut him until next year; that contract might be the worst in the NFL.

[ronjon1990]

1 hour ago, Matts4313 said:

For those who care, his target quality rating was 18th, his true catch rating was 63. That delta suggest he wasnt living up to his potential. Additionally, Daks "true accuracy" (excludes things like throwaways) was #4 in the NFL, but Cooper was ranked 36th in separation, meaning he wasnt getting open:

TARGET ACCURACY	YARDS PER RECEPTION	YARDS PER TARGET	YARDS PER ROUTE RUN	CATCHABLE TARGET RATE	TARGET QUALITY RATING	CATCH RATE	TRUE CATCH RATE
7.3	12.7	8.4	1.90	79.6% (82 tgts)	6.34	66.0%	82.9%
#47	#55	#41	#38	#31	#18	#43	#63

Shocker right there lol. 

He runs good routes, but, as stated, dude is Charmin Ultra, Looks Like Tarzan Plays Like Jane material. 

His inability to separate has always been an issue and he drops balls left and right before disappearing. 

Reminds me a lot of Jared Cook. Dude would make the most spectacular catch, but his effort was visibly lacking on the routine stuff way too often. People gushed over his spinning sideline one handed grab, but totally ignored the catchable balls he'd give up on if a defender was anywhere near him. The talent is there, but it doesn't show up often enough. 

I don't want to call it lack of motivation, but there's just something missing. Too much mental focus on the big splash play, maybe? 

[AZ_Eaglesfan]

6 minutes ago, Matts4313 said:

Dont forget that "rough" 2017 Dak was statistically tied with "MVP" Wentz all the way up until the Falcons game (#9) when our OL fell apart. 

And I dont mean they were ballpark close. "Rough" Dak and "MVP" Wentz had virtually the same exact stats all the way across the board (yards, TDs, turnovers, rating, etc). 

We cant cut Zeke this year. His salary is guaranteed. We cant cut him until next year; that contract might be the worst in the NFL.

Having good stats does not mean you played well lol. Dak did a lot of garbage time farming in his down years. But there is no question that Dak improved in a big way the second Cooper came to town. The guy is a good WR and just about any team would love to have him on their roster... just the Cowboys invested another first round pick into a different WR and now seem to want to pay Gallup coming off a torn ACL more than Cooper(who is making a ton of money).

The bottom line is this isn't being done to make the Cowboys better right now. It is being done cause they need to get some of these contracts off the books now so they can make space to eventually pay other guys.

[Matts4313]

2 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

Dak did a lot of garbage time farming in his down years.

No he didnt. The bulk of his stats came in the 2nd and 3rd quarter. Thats a false narrative that needs to be killed with fire. 

[.Buzz]

7 minutes ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said:

The bottom line is this isn't being done to make the Cowboys better right now. It is being done cause they need to get some of these contracts off the books now so they can make space to eventually pay other guys.

Think this is important to remember here.