Jerry Jones explains Dallas Cowboys' offseason decision to trade Amari Cooper

Amari Cooper was a major loss for the Dallas Cowboys offense over the offseason. Cooper played the last three and a half seasons with the Cowboys where he caught 292 passes for nearly 3,900 yards and 27 touchdowns. However, Jerry Jones made the call back in the spring to trade him to the Cleveland Browns.

Amidst Cooper’s hot start in Cleveland, Jones went into further detail about why the franchise elected to make that deal. With the contract Dallas had him on, Jones says the team could no longer justify spending it in that area, regardless of how great of a player it meant they were losing.

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Jerry Jones on @1053thefan: “The issue with Amari Cooper was how much we were paying him, and what we could do with that money. Completely. Amari Cooper is a real good player. Top player.”

Jerry Jones then mentioned wanting a better o-line/pass rush, “You can’t have it all.”

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 23, 2022

The Cowboys signed Cooper to a five-year, $100 million deal back in 2020. As the roster progressed, though, they realized that spending that much on a top receiver wasn’t worth it. The team still owing Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott a significant sum of money likely didn’t help his case either. According to the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the deal saved the Cowboys $16 million worth of cap space at the time for this season.

Upon his arrival in Cleveland, Cooper and the Browns were able to rework his contract. Pelissero also reported that the Browns had converted the majority of Cooper’s $20 million base salary into a signing bonus. With some of their other offseason moves, it was an important restructuring as it saved them over $15 million worth of cap space.

It has worked out so far for the Browns as Cooper has started 2022 strong with his new team. He has caught 19 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns through three games. All three stats would be the best on the Cowboy’s roster thus far as well.

Sometimes you have to make business decisions like these in the NFL. Jerry Jones made the call and it will have its benefits for the franchise in their financial flexibility. Still, Pro-Bowl level receivers don’t grow on trees. The verdict is still out at the moment, but the very early returns suggest Cleveland got the better end of this deal.