Amari Group Again Jul 18

FRISCO - Requite Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones credit for one affair: He'due south non sugar-coating the club'due south cap-based event with Amari Cooper.

"It's too early on for me to address that,'' Jones said on Monday upon arrival at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, when asked whether Cooper will be a Cowboy in 2022. "I don't want to address any of that every bit far equally the details of the contract."

Okaaaaay ...

That's not a "no comment.'' That's a very clear "nosotros don't know.''

Which is telling enough, and not just because information technology'due south exactly what CowboysSI.com has been reporting all offseason regarding Cooper'south future. Among flurries of reports erroneously claiming that Amari won't be hither ...

"We don't know.''

Jones' position (and Cooper's situation, which we suspension down below) will naturally feed speculation about how the Pro Bowl receiver and his contract might be moved.

We've got three ways in item, brusk of cut Cooper, worth wrestling with:

1) Call ATLANTA Can Atlanta and Dallas both "win the trade'' by dealing 1 star receiver for another?

The Falcons accept a problem with broad receiver Calvin Ridley, who forth with his mental health challenge is known to be looking for a "fresh first'' - something even Falcons possessor Arthur Blank is acknowledging might mean a trade out of Atlanta.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys are looking for financial relief as information technology involves another standout receiver in Cooper, the iv-fourth dimension Pro Bowler.

Wanna trade?

Among all of the speculative media trades floating nigh, this one - at its cadre - does solve some bug on both rosters.

Atlanta is in dire need of a No. one receiving choice for quarterback Matt Ryan, peculiarly as it commits to the idea of making one last run with Ryan every bit the presentlyhoped-for 37-twelvemonth-old centerpiece. Ridley, 27, would be simply fine as that guy, just ...

Doesn't seem to want to be that guy in Atlanta.

Calvin Ridley, Amari Cooper

The Cowboys, meanwhile, have a proven No. 1 receiver in Cooper, 28, but he is owed $20 million in 2022 - a number that is fully guaranteed if things are unchanged on March 21.

Dallas does take an out in Cooper's contract, every bit the Cowboys could cut him earlier March 21 and relieve $xvi million under the cap - at which time the team'southward receiver room would be comprised of generally just CeeDee Lamb.

But there is some other mode: The Cowboys could make a trade and however save at $16 million ... and and then plough around and spent $11 million of it on Ridley's contract.

Is the $5 million in cap savings non plenty for Dallas? Would the Cowboys want picks, too? Or, would it be the Falcons who desire bounty, for this reason: The Falcons, cap-wise, soon but accept about $10 meg of space. But between Jake Matthews, Grady Jarrett and (gulp!) Ryan, there are means to move money if the team wishes to create a more than competitive roster in 2022.

And Amari Cooper makes the roster more competitive than an absent Ridley.

There is a more financially-sound mode to bargain with Ridley, and that is to merchandise him for a draft pick, a histrion who will cost a fraction of what Cooper makes.

Same for Dallas; shouldn't the cap-strapped Cowboys, before long $20 1000000 over the cap, swap out Amari not for another player, but rather for a draft pick?

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Maybe that'southward why, if Dallas and Atlanta ever kick this around, information technology could exist the Falcons asking for the typhoon picks, and suggesting they are the ones doing the Cowboys a favor ... at which a stalemate occurs because that would be Dallas' exact position.

2) CALL BALTIMORE How about the Cowboys exchanging Cooper for Baltimore Ravens four-time All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters?

As a sidebar, it and so happens that Cooper and Peters don't like each other. Retrieve?

Anyway, Bleacher Report is among the many outlets that accept tossed out blockbuster ideas involving Cooper. And it's worth digging into here ...

*B/R writes: "The Baltimore Ravens could use a proven No. 1 receiver.''

We're non certain that'south true; the Ravens have expressed satisfaction with their group. But maybe.

*B/R says "the deal makes financial sense for both teams.'' And here is an interesting wrinkle here, with B/R suggesting "Dallas could ... work out an extension that would soften (Peters') $10 million cap striking and still take money to put toward retaining (Michael) Gallup or (Ced) Wilson."

Peters is 29 and nether contract for one more year. So locking him up long-term is fine. But he'due south also a $12 mil APY corner. Why does Dallas demand to do that when it simply in the last two drafts picked 3 corners? Isn't the program to have Trevon Diggs on one side and Kelvin Joseph - making $two one thousand thousand APY on the other?

Marcus Peters, Amari Cooper

*B/R writes as if Baltimore wants to replace Peters.

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta, even so, said recently that he "loves" Peters and expects him to be on the team in 2022.

*B/R sort of skips over the fact that Peters missed all 2022 after sustaining a torn ACL in the preseason, and won't be back on the field until preparation camp - a hazard for anybody trading for him.

*B/R also skips over the fact that these two teams greatly value picks. This proposal calls for the Ravens to function with a tertiary-rounder; we bet they wouldn't practise that. It also ignores a core value of the Cowboys': Here's betting that a Dallas trade scenario featuring Amari Cooper would be non for another expensive role player, but rather for picks.

3) Phone call JACKSONVILLEPro Football game Focus listed a Cooper merchandise to the Jacksonville Jaguars as i it believes makes sense. PFF writes:

"It's no secret Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is unhappy with how the 2022 season unfolded, and that frustration certainly extends to No. i broad receiver Amari Cooper ... Cooper's extension signed with the Cowboys in 2022 was structured in a fashion that creates a clean go out opportunity this offseason.

"Terms: Jaguars send to Dallas a 2022 second- and a 2022 5th-circular choice.''

Amari Cooper

Some problems: a) There is no real evidence that the Joneses' dissatisfaction with the way Cooper was used is aimed at Cooper. That'southward how some national media people take taken it; they might exist wrong. b) There is no "clean exit.'' At that place is relatively "escapability.'' c) To go the 2022 picks, a trade has to happen past March 21 - which can be in play, but obviously erases the post-June 1 thought.

To repeat: The clearest matter we can tell Cowboys Nation is that Dallas has not (contrary to mountains of speculative reports to the contrary) made its final decision here. And Stephen just confirmed that.

The Amari Cooper's situation is beingness evaluated. Information technology's a large contract, with big expectations. Making information technology a big decision.

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Source: https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/dallas-commit-trade-amari-cooper-options-baltimore-ravens-rumors