Cowboys' Jerry Jones Explains Amari Cooper to Browns Trade

For the Dallas Cowboys, trading Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns was a matter of dollars and sense.

Team owner Jerry Jones said Monday at the NFL owners meetings the Cowboys "made a decision that that allocation should be better spent" in reference to the $20 million salary originally due to Cooper.

Cooper has since restructured his deal with the Browns. He'll count for only $4.9 million against the salary cap in 2022 but then $23.8 million for each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Jones' comments confirmed what many already believed.

Cooper saw a slight dip in his production in 2021 as he caught 68 passes for 865 yards and eight touchdowns in 15 games. He had surpassed 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first two full years with Dallas.

As much as the Cowboys may have wanted to keep the 27-year-old around generally speaking, it was difficult to justify when looking at all of the factors involved.

CeeDee Lamb staked his claim as the team's No. 1 wideout in his second season. He finished with 79 receptions, 1,102 yards and six touchdowns en route to earning his first Pro Bowl nod.

Dallas also entered free agency with precious little salary-cap space, with a portion of that earmarked for Michael Gallup, who got a five-year, $57.5 million extension. Re-signing Gallup and keeping Cooper would've tied a lot of money up at one position.

A quick look at who the Cowboys have lost shows this problem wasn't isolated to Cooper. They faced a serious cap crunch that meant difficult decisions were required:

In the long term, the cost-cutting overseen by Jones and the front office could widen the organization's championship window.

In the short term, it's difficult to see how the Cowboys are closer to winning a Super Bowl in 2022 than they were when the 2021 season ended.