3 worst trades in Dallas Cowboys franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
Cowboys worst trade No. 2: Amari Cooper, 2022
One of the better trades the Cowboys have made in recent years was when they sent a first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for Amari Cooper. Before landing Cooper, Dak Prescott was struggling to find open receivers and the team was a mess overall
They knew they needed someone who can threaten the opposing secondary, which prompted this big trade. Of course, no one at the time thought the move was wise by Dallas and many didn’t hold back in their criticism.
A first-rounder for Amari Cooper.
— Adam Rank (@adamrank) October 22, 2018
The Cowboys are your friend who pays $179 for a T-shirt that they could have bought at Target for $12.
It didn’t take long to see Dallas won this trade. Cooper instantly revitalized the receiving corps and the Raiders used the pick they obtained on safety Johnathan Abram who isn’t a bad player, but he also didn’t have near the impact on his team that Cooper did in Dallas.
In three and a half years, Cooper ended up with 292 receptions for 3,893 yards and scored 27 touchdowns. Then ahead of the 2022 season, the Cowboys traded him to the Cleveland Browns for practically nothing.
The most frustrating part of this trade is that it didn’t have to happen. Dallas should have had the money to spend on Cooper, but they made some seriously poor decisions when it came to handing out extensions that hurt them in the end.
One of those was the freakishly long extension they gave to Ezekiel Elliott — because overpaying a running back isn’t enough, you also have to make sure you pay them beyond their prime. Another was the contract they signed with Jaylon Smith, who is costing them nearly $7 million against the cap this year after being released in 2021.
It’s a passing league and the Cowboys had one of the best aerial attacks in the NFL. Unfortunately, their desire to pay for players that can be replaced led to them seriously weakening their receiving corps while gaining a day three pick in return — and still having to eat $6 million in dead money to not have Cooper.