Amari Cooper on his Cowboys Future: 'I Love It Here; It's The Place For Me'
FRISCO - We've made clear the Dallas Cowboys position on Amari Cooper. "Cowboy for Life,'' in short. But amid odd reports of some sort of coming breakup, Cooper himself obliged reporters today inside The Star by clearing up the same truth.
"I love it here,'' said the Pro Bowl receiver as he and the 6-6 Cowboys prepare for a Thursday visit to Chicago. "I want to be here. I just love this situation, my teammates. I just feel it’s the place for me.”
How have the mutually warm feelings between this organization and this player become advertised as something else? Sunday morning TV ratings, basically.
But the Cowboys plans are as they've always been.
"As far as (not) extending him,'' owner Jerry Jones recently said, "I know that no one has that type of information because I'm the only one that ultimately makes that decision. I have no reason to think Amari Cooper won't finish his career with the Dallas Cowboys.''
A national report has misconstrued the absence of a new deal and insisted its a problem. (Maybe the only problem is that Cooper's agents have split, so there is that to be worked out). But from the Cowboys' perspective, this is a 25-year-old star on his way to a fourth Pro Bowler who loves football ... who may end up at $20 million APY (or in a worst-case scenario, an offseason tag while negotiations continue) who isn't going anywhere because this team, with $80-million-plus in cap room for 2020, has a big chunk of that intentionally ear-marked for Cooper.
"We're proud to have Amari,'' Jerry recently said, reflecting on the trade a year ago that sent a first-round pick to the Raiders. "He's impactful to our team. That's exactly what we used that pick for. He's certainly performed at the level that we had anticipated.''
Added Cooper on his future in Dallas: "I’ve approached the situation like, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. ... Why would I want to change things?”
