Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Explains Decisions on Amari Cooper, La'el Collins & Randy Gregory
OXNARD, Calif. - Who and what, exactly, is Jerry Jones talking about when he opens his Dallas Cowboys training camp presser on Tuesday by addressing "decisions made'' about "top players.''
Said Jones: “More important than anything, these decisions we made ... relative to top players, had everything to do with their availability and my concern about their availability ... We lost some key players. But it was our decision to lose them."
Jones said he didn't mean to "demean'' anybody and he didn't mention anybody by name. But ...
He's talking about Amari Cooper.
He's talking about La'el Collins.
He's talking about Randy Gregory.
A review of what went wrong with each ...
Amari Cooper is indeed talented. But as CowboysSI.com was first to report, some inside The Star were troubled by his "occasional commitment,'' as one source put it, a black mark low-lighted by his perceived effort level in the playoff loss to the Niners. You can read the in-depth details here.
Jones said on Tuesday that there is room on a roster for "a top-10-paid'' total of players. Cooper, at $20 million, was in the end not valued that way. So he trade-dumped to Cleveland.
La'el Collins is indeed talented. But as we reported all last season, the Cowboys were disappointed by Collins’ general behavior - a "lack of professionalism,'' as one source put it.
His complicated entanglement with his drug test suspension (he allegedly tried to bribe the urine tester) may have been, in the minds of some here inside The Star, a last straw of sorts.
So the Cowboys dumped a blue-chip talent in the prime of his career? La’el Collins soon after signed with the Bengals. But as Cincy begins camp? Collins isn't ready, and opened the week on the non-football injury list.
Randy Gregory is indeed talented. But as we reported when negotiations went sour, causing Gregory to scoot off to Denver, the Cowboys felt, given his spotty track record, that a standard behavioral clause in his contract was completely justified. After all, in a half-decade of employment here, his involvement in substance-abuse and behavioral programs limited him to being only a part-time contributor.
So the Cowboys opted to leave the clause intact (see "El Paso'') ... and they lost a player who they'd prioritized. Gregory is with the Broncos now, but he recently underwent shoulder surgery and is not available to practice.
"Availability,'' Jones said, "has everything to do with (parting with the players).''
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