5 potential Dallas Cowboys cap casualties in 2022 offseason

Dallas Cowboys potential cap casualty No. 2: Amari Cooper, WR

There’s been a lot of discussion about Amari Cooper following the lack of targets he received this season. While it’s true that CeeDee Lamb has been coming on strong in his second season, Cooper is still the most complete wideout on this team and it felt at times as though he was option No. 4 in the passing game behind Lamb, Dalton Schultz, and Cedrick Wilson.

They did try and get him involved in their loss to the San Francisco 49ers when he had 10 targets but the ball kept sailing toward Wilson when the game was on the line. Cooper finished with 64 yards on six receptions, which was an average of just over 10 yards per grab — fairly low for a player of his stature.

Following the game, there was talk about his future, and part of that was due to Cooper voicing his frustration with the lack of targets all season on two separate occasions. He has come out and said he wants to stay in Dallas but the question now becomes whether or not they want to keep the relationship going.

Heading into 2022, Cooper is set to count for $22 million against the cap. Cutting him before June 1 saves them $16 million but a post-June 1 cut would save them $20 million (teams can designate two players post-June cuts, and there are a few candidates in Dallas this year). It would also mean they could try and re-sign both Wilson and Michael Gallup who are set for free agency.

Cooper is still an elite talent but the way the Cowboys run their offense could lend to them using a quantity of receivers as opposed to pure quality.