DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Dallas Cowboys traded away four-time Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper to the Browns on Saturday, but that wasn't before they had some harsh feedback for the wideout.
A source close to the situation told 105.3 The Fan's Zach Wolchuk and Eric Chiofalo that the Cowboys informed Cooper that "he doesn't fit within their offense," before the deal that sent him to Cleveland for a 2022 fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick swap.
The idea that Cooper doesn't fit in anyone's offense is blasphemous at best. The 27-year-old had a down year in 2021, catching 68 balls for 865 yards and eight touchdowns. But those numbers aren't all on Cooper, as quarterback Dak Prescott struggled throughout the second half of the season, and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore failed to design plays to get Cooper the ball more.
As RJ Ochoa of Blogging the Boys pointed out, Cooper was targeted at least 10 times in only 14 of his 56 career games with the Cowboys. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl-winning Rams targeted their star wide receiver Cooper Kupp at least 10 times in 14 games in 2021.
Cooper had 1,000-plus yard seasons in each of his first five years in the NFL. With Moore calling the plays in 2019 and 2020, Cooper had 160 combined catches for 2,303 total yards. The numbers in 2020 (92 for 1,114 yards and five touchdowns) would have likely been even better had Prescott not suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the fifth game of the season.
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The fact of the matter is that Cooper's release had nothing to do with his performance this season, as Bryan Broaddus and Wolchuk said today on 105.3 The Fan.
"I'll tell you what. They've made this thing personal. They weren't happy with Amari Cooper, and they're not too happy with La'el Collins. That's what you do when you don't fear your job and get rid of good players … 'meh, no problem, we'll just keep going here,'" Broaddus said Monday on the GBag Nation. "Me personally, if it ain't for Dak Prescott, I don't want to hear it from it you. 'This quarterback needs my help. He doesn't need things being subtracted from him.' And I think they've made this thing personal."
The personal aspect of the situation Broaddus is referring to has to do with the Cowboys displeasure with how Cooper approached the COVID-19 vaccine. Cooper was outed as being unvaccinated last season when he missed two games, both of which resulted in losses, due to a positive test for the coronavirus.
Cooper's decision to not get vaccinated, and the fallout from his decision "really rankled the Joneses," NFL Network's Rich Eisen reported recently.
When you factor that in with the reality that Dallas was up against the salary cap and needed to make some tough decisions to spend the funds elsewhere, Cooper's $16 million cap savings was an easy decision for them to make.
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