This year’s NFL trade deadline is quickly approaching on Nov. 5 and the Dallas Cowboys are one team that should be looking for help in the coming weeks. America’s Team hasn’t looked special throughout a 3-2 start to the season and could benefit from improving on both sides of the ball — especially in the wide receiver room.
With Brandin Cooks on the injured reserve, CeeDee Lamb and Jalen Tolbert have been the Cowboys’ only reliable receivers. If team owner/general manager Jerry Jones truly wants to end the franchise’s Super Bowl drought in February, it might be in his best interest to add another wideout to the mix.
Fortunately, a proven playmaker could be available ahead of the deadline and it’s someone who Dallas fans are more than familiar with.
CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards pitched on Thursday that the Cowboys should acquire WR Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns before the deadline. Cooper, 30, spent parts of four seasons in Dallas before moving to Cleveland in 2022.
While some available playmakers might be too pricy for the Cowboys, that isn’t the case for Cooper. The ex-Alabama product is only carrying a $8.74 million cap hit after restructuring his contract during the offseason, which is more than affordable for a Dallas team with $23.6 million in salary space remaining, per Spotrac.
The Cowboys still own the majority of their draft picks for the next three years, which should give them enough capital to acquire Cooper. Considering how the veteran WR is on an expiring contract, the Browns would likely be happy to get a Day 2 pick or two in return rather than losing him for nothing in free agency.
Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper takes to the field.
© Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
The Cowboys acquired Cooper from the then-Oakland Raiders in exchange for a first-round pick back in October 2018. He went on to play 56 games in a Dallas jersey, turning 429 targets into 292 catches for 3,893 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns.
Cooper has since recorded back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns with the Browns, however, his production has been down this season. The ex-2015 first-rounder is averaging a career-worst 41.6 receiving yards per game while only catching 42.6 percent of his targets.
Perhaps a reunion with the Cowboys could help Cooper get back on track. He already has a connection with quarterback Dak Prescott, which produced some of the duo’s best performances to date.
With a motivated Cooper back in town, the Cowboys could potentially look like legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
