Amari Cooper wanted to stay with the Dallas Cowboys, and on Monday night, he made it official.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cowboys and Cooper agreed on a five year, $100 million deal which made Amari Cooper ($20 million) the second-highest-paid wide receiver in the league, behind Julio Jones ($22 million).
The Cowboys traded a first-round pick to Oakland in exchange for Amari Cooper midway through the 2018 season. Upon arrival, the Cowboys offense improved and Dak Prescott got dangerous. Dallas had three big-time free agents entering the free agency period and managed to retain two of them: Dak Prescott (franchise tag) and Amari Cooper.
Pro Bowl cornerback Byron Jones signed a huge deal with the Miami Dolphins which made him the highest-paid cornerback in NFL history. Dallas did not have the money for all three of these guys and while it really hurts to see Byron Jones leave, at least he did not choose Philadelphia.
Speaking of division rivals, according to Adam Schefter, one of the main reasons for the Cowboys pushing an Amari Cooper deal so quickly was the Washington Redskins. The Redskins began aggressively pursuing Cooper so the Cowboys decided to lock him down before Washington gained more momentum.
Jerry Jones has a reputation of being boring in free agency but there was no way that would be the case this year, with three former Pro Bowlers potentially on their way out.
The Cowboys certainly shored up their offense, but at the same time, they left a rather large hole in the defense.
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