Cowboys Trade of Amari Cooper: 'No Regrets,' says Jerry Jones
The Dallas Cowboys and starting quarterback Dak Prescott could benefit from a top-notch wide receiver, in the opinion of many.
A top-notch wide receiver like ... Amari Cooper.
"Do we want to factor in that we didn't have Dak for all but two games?'' said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Friday when asked by 105.3 The Fan if he harbors any "regrets'' about the offseason trade-dump of Cooper to Cleveland. "I think we should (factor that in). That (Dak's injury absence) would have mitigated some of your WR production, without question. ..."
In other words, as we play "Translating Jerry'': Cowboys receivers were not destined to put up monster numbers while Cooper Rush subbed for Prescott at QB for over a month. Also worth mentioning: Michael Gallup, the No. 2 receiver behind CeeDee Lamb, just returned to action four weeks ago after a lengthy rehab from his knee injury. That fact might "mitigate'' numbers, too.
Jones stated that given all of the involved circumstances, it is not an "apples-to-apples" comparison when talking about Cooper's success in Cleveland so far.
Through seven games, Cooper leads the Browns in receiving with 422 yards and four touchdowns on 34 receptions. His last two games have each seen him eclipse that 100-yard receiving mark. The Cowboys are frankly not surprised by that, as their decision to part with Amari had nothing to do with his ability to piece together 100-yard efforts ...
But did have to do with "efforts'' in other areas, the organization ultimately deciding that his contributions across the board did not merit his $20 million APY salary. (CowboysSI.com broke the story on what motivated the move; read "Shrunk'' here.)
One of Jones' points is certainly sound: Would Amari have 422 yards and four touchdowns on 34 receptions if he was in Dallas with Rush at QB and "defense-first'' as its mantra?
After losing Dak Prescott to a thumb injury in the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a once perceived "pass-happy" offense turned into a "run-first" offense. ... and yet even then, Lamb, the Cowboys' new top guy, has 479 yards and two touchdowns on 37 receptions. ... numbers that are fairly similar to Amari's.
Yet many are clamoring for Lamb to do more, while also exercising revisionist history to insist they know what Amari would've done here to start the Dallas season?
Our biggest problem with Dallas' judgment of Amari Cooper isn't their eventually dissatisfaction with him. Trading him for just a fifth-round pick was not a way to "win the trade.'' But that doesn't mean Dallas was wrong about wanting to move on from him in general.
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