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While reports continue to percolate as far as Ezekiel Elliott’s potential holdout regarding a new contract, there is no such thing encircling his teammate Amari Cooper. Thank goodness.
The Dallas Cowboys traded a first-round pick for Cooper during the middle of last season and saw it pay dividends for them immediately. Thanks to the efforts of Cooper (and plenty of others, don’t get me wrong) Dallas wound up winning 10 games, a division title, and a playoff game last season. That’s totally worth a first-round pick.
One could argue that because he so drastically changed the Cowboys for the better that Cooper has some of the biggest leverage possible. Considering he’s entering the fifth year of his rookie deal (an option exercised by his former team the Oakland Raiders) it stands to reason that the receiver would be anxious to get paid. Not so much.
According to Yahoo’s Charles Robinson, Cooper is perfectly fine playing the long game here and taking things, in classic Jason Garrett style, day by day.
On #Cowboys and Amari Cooper: He’s in no rush to get his extension done and a big reason why is the extensions of #Falcons Julio Jones, #Saints Michael Thomas and #Chiefs Tyreek Hill. All three should raise the market. I’m also told Cooper is absolutely reporting to camp on time.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 23, 2019
Where Cooper’s situation is different than Elliott’s definitely lies in the number of people at his position who are also in line for new deals. Zeke is only “competing” with Melvin Gordon of the Los Angeles Chargers (a runner who he’s indisputably better than) where Cooper is awaiting extensions for some of the game’s best wideouts.
For what it’s worth, Robinson also reported that the New Orleans Saints have offered Michael Thomas a deal for about $19M per year but that he wants top top $20M. That number could be very important in regards to Cooper.
On the Michael Thomas contract talks: Sources say the #Saints have offered a deal averaging between $18-$19 million a year. Thomas would like to be the first $20 million wideout in the #NFL. A $20 mil per year average w/ the right structure/guarantees would likely get it done.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) July 23, 2019
It’s quite the relief to see that there won’t be any holdout situation for Cooper, though. As he was traded for in the middle of last season, he’s never been to training camp with the Dallas Cowboys so it will be neat to see him in Oxnard. Of course, while he may not have the resume that Zeke does in Dallas his future certainly feels more secure. The Cowboys didn’t surrender a first-round pick for Cooper not to re-sign him. He knows he’s getting taken care of.
It feels like Dak Prescott is the first big extension that could get done for the Cowboys, but if there is a nominee for second it’s likely Cooper (barring any sudden movement with Elliott). This feels like one less thing to worry about, it’s just a matter of when not if.