One of the biggest offseason missions the Dallas Cowboys set out to accomplish is finally done. The team has agreed to terms with Amari Cooper on a five-year, $100 million deal that keeps the four-time Pro Bowl receiver in Dallas through the 2024 season, a source tells CBS Sports -- Adam Schefter of ESPN, first to report. Signing Cooper was paramount after being forced to apply the exclusive franchise tag on Dak Prescott before the NFL tag deadline.
The deal contains $60 million in guaranteed money.
Following paused talks with both Prescott and Cooper during the back end of the 2019 season, the club renewed conversations with both at the 2020 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, with the hopes of landing extensions on both ahead of the initial tag deadline of March 12. At worst, they knew they had to get at least one on the books, and the tag deadline being moved twice and finally landing on March 16 only bought them that much more time to get the job done.
Prescott currently has no plans on reporting to offseason workouts under a franchise tag, and the Cowboys are only using it as a placeholder anyway, now having until mid-July to get an extension done on their franchise quarterback -- eyeing one much sooner.
Filled with multiple shocking blockbuster trades that involved prominent wide receivers and record-setting contracts, the first day of the NFL's free agency legal tampering period did not disappoint. Will Brinson and the Pick Six Podcast Superfriends are here to break it all down; listen below and be sure to subscribe for daily NFL goodness.
For Cooper, the agreement with the Cowboys proves true his continued proclamations that Dallas was where he wanted to be for the foreseeable future, and the team avoids having used a first-round pick on what would've amounted to a 1.5-year rental. The 25-year-old was acquired in October 2018 via trade with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for the aforementioned 2019 first-round pick, and jump-started a seemingly dead Cowboys offense in the process. Despite a list of injuries his follow-up season, he was still able to produce a career-best campaign that saw him reel in 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns.
He's continually proven himself a No. 1 receiving threat and one of the best in the NFL, but still feels he has much to prove due to question marks on his durability. Despite logging 16 starts in 2019, he didn't finish each of those contests, and was pulled early on more than one occasion.
He'll now have plenty of time to do so in a Cowboys uniform, as he continues to build on his stout chemistry with Prescott.
