'Cooper Stopper': Eagles Trade For Cowboys Nemesis CB Darius Slay

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys have every reason to be pleased with their re-signing of receiver Amari Cooper. But in Philadelphia, they think they have even more reason to be pleased with their trade-and-sign for cornerback Darius Slay - because he's a "Cooper Stopper.''

On Wednesday, Warren Sharp posted on Twitter the recent Slay numbers when covering Cooper, Dallas' new $100-million pass-catcher. They are ... convincing.

If Darius Slay is traded to the Eagles...

he’s done OUTSTANDING vs Amari Cooper.

Cooper vs PHI (5 gms, 44 targets):
• 4 TDs
• 11.1 YPA
• 98 yds/gm
• 64% catch rate

Cooper vs DET (2 gms, 12 targets):
• 0 TDs
• 3.5 YPA
• 21 yds/gm
• 33% catch rate

From 2019 meeting 🎥 pic.twitter.com/1a6Z6MSfkQ
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 19, 2020

In short, in Cooper's two games against the Lions and Slay, he caught zero touchdowns and an average of 21 yards per game.

Meanwhile, in Cooper's five games against the Eagles - who in the last two years have often looked confounded in the secondary - Cooper had four TDs and 98 yards per game.

Cooper in 2019 experienced a Pro Bowl season ... with some odd ups and downs, especially the downs when on the road, in the cold or whn opposed by Pro Bowl corners. (CowboysSI.com's one-on-one audio visit with Amari sheds some light on his mindset in trying to overcome things like that, including injury issues.)

It's not difficult to imagine what the Eagles are thinking here in pulling off a long-rumored trade that brings Slay (dissatisfied in Detroit) to Philly: In addition to him being a Pro Bowl player in general, he is also - important to the two-team competition that seems to exist in the NFC East - specifically a "Cooper Stopper.''

Philly has "paid twice'' for Slay, both in the form of a trade (affordable at a third- and fifth-rounder) and in the form of a three-year $50 mil contract. No, Dallas wasn't in this market for a cornerback at $16.7 mil APY. But yes, even after paying Amari Cooper, Dallas does need to figure out its own cornerback situation ... and figure out how Cooper is going to get open twice a year against Slay.