“He hasn't really performed up to the standards” - NFL analyst sides with Cowboys for releasing Amari Cooper
There have been rumors for weeks that the Dallas Cowboys were about to either trade or cut wide receiver Amari Cooper.
The rumors seem to be true and that Amari Cooper is about to be released by the team and one NFL analyst seems to agree with the Cowboys about releasing Amari Cooper.
Amari Cooper: “I love being a Dallas Cowboy. I love everything about it. I think about it almost every day. ... Just the aura of being a Dallas Cowboy, you can’t beat it. I want to be a Dallas Cowboy for life.”
Louis Riddick said this about Amari Cooper's performance of late on "First Take."
“In economic terms, you call this surplus-value. This is a surplus-value move. It’s performance value relative to cost. His performance does not match up relative to the cost of him being on this roster and they know that, they recognize that. They've seen that he hasn't really performed up to the standards befitting of someone making $20 million a year in salary at the wide receiver position."
Riddick also said that the Cowboys are doing the right thing by concentrating on other players on the team like wideout Michael Gallup.
"And quite honestly, Michael Gallup’s coming off of injury, he's also a free agent. They have decided to go ahead and shift those funds in his direction and for the rest of the football team. And quite honestly, look, when you look at the draft right now, you look at the wide receiver core, you see how these kids were running out here last night. There's a lot of cheaper, much more affordable labor that can give them the value that they need on the football field that doesn't cost them the type of salary that Amari Cooper cost them. But Amari will catch on somewhere else. He's still a fantastic wide receiver. He just wasn't worth what they were paying them. It's really that simple.”
Riddick may be right that Cooper may not be worth $20 million, but he was still the most valuable wide receiver on this team.
What teams may be interested in Amari Cooper?
If the Cowboys release Cooper, there will be plenty of teams lining up to take him in a heartbeat.
The minute he is released, Amari Cooper is eligible to sign a new deal elsewhere. He’s just 27 years old and has four 1,000-yard seasons under his belt.
At his best, he’s an elite route runner with the speed to stress a defense vertically as well.
He’ll have a major market.
Other than his first year with the team, Cooper has had back-to-back thousand yards receiving and didn't have a bad season this past year, amassing over 800 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns.
Rumors are that the Baltimore Ravens are very interested in Cooper and Ravens fans seem to be excited with the prospect of having him on their team joining Lamar Jackson.
Another team that may be interested is the Atlanta Falcons, they could use a veteran wide receiver with the loss of Julio Jones and maybe Calvin Ridley, Cooper could be a very good addition to the Falcons.
But who knows? the Cowboys and Cooper may still work things out in the end.