Cowboys Should ‘Overpay’ to Sign ‘Hell of a Talent' DeAndre Hopkins
FRISCO - A year ago during OTAs at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys were shrugging off the departure of veteran receiver Amari Cooper. In part, they claimed, because of the arrival of veteran receiver James Washington.
Ring an ominous bell?
Slated to be the team's No. 3 wideout behind CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup, Washington was injured in training camp, never caught a pass with a star on his helmet and is now a member of the New Orleans Saints.
Moral to the story: You can never have too many good receivers. With an offense that in eight quarters of playoff football against the San Francisco 49ers the last two postseasons has produced only three touchdowns and 29 points, the Cowboys should know this better than anyone.
Yet here we go ... again?
They scored 52 offensive touchdowns last season, and 20 of them won't be back. Ezekiel Elliott (12), Dalton Schultz (5), Noah Brown (3) and even offensive coordinator Kellen Moore are all gone.
Dallas did trade for Brandin Cooks. Hopefully Michael Gallup stays healthy. Maybe Jalen Tolbert develops. Still, three months from Week 1 of the 2023 season are the Cowboys better than the Philadelphia Eagles? Can they score enough points to beat the 49ers?
No and, probably, no.
Alas, the Cowboys passed on free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. And now, unless coach Mike McCarthy was bluffing during Thursday's OTAs, they're about to say "No thanks" to DeAndre Hopkins.
It's time to go all in - $20 million APY and multi and add the best offensive player on the market. One that can yank the Cowboys from an entertaining 12-win team going nowhere fast in the playoffs, to a legitimate Super Bowl contender. At 27 years without a Super Bowl, it's actually past time.
They have new-found salary-cap room. They have an offense losing almost 40 percent of its touchdowns from last season. They have an owner in Jerry Jones who - once upon a time, at least - loves to make splash signings.
But ...
“I really like the look of our group of receivers," McCarthy said when asked about Hopkins. "There’s nothing good that comes out of those answers. Hop is a hell of a talent.”
Maybe Hopkins, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals last week, has indeed lost a step at age 30. And granted Dak Prescott wasn't on the receiver's list of desired quarterbacks. But last January in San Francisco the Cowboys were down seven points and 82 yards from the end zone with 2:59 remaining in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game.
"Hop", as McCarthy concedes, is a hell of a talent.
In that pressure situation, he'd also be a hell of a target.
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