Dallas Cowboys

Can Dak Prescott, Cowboys be the same without Amari Cooper?

Published Mar. 5, 2022 3:42 p.m. ET

Jerry Jones’ goal for the 2022 season is unquestionably Super Bowl or bust.

The Dallas Cowboys owner has primed his team for a fateful run next season, back-loading the mammoth contracts on his books to free up $20 million in cap space and keep much of his star-studded roster together.

However, while most Super Bowl contenders have spent this offseason bolstering their wide receiver corps — the Rams project to re-sign Odell Beckham Jr. and the Chiefs have scoured free agency for another wideout to compliment Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill — Adam Schefter reported Friday that the Cowboys are likely to release star receiver Amari Cooper.

Speaking on "The Herd" Friday, Colin Cowherd warned the Cowboys against releasing Cooper, highlighting his transformative impact on quarterback Dak Prescott and the need for an elite receiving arsenal in the modern NFL.

"It’s a weapons league now," Cowherd said. "You can’t have enough guys on the perimeter. I would not move off Amari Cooper. The other thing is that if you look at Dak’s numbers with Amari Cooper and without, [he] is not the same quarterback."

Cooper was a revelation through his first two full seasons in Dallas, totaling more than 2,300 yards and earning a Pro-Bowl selection in 2019. The former Alabama star has developed nicely into both a high-volume and deep threat receiver, leading the Cowboys in targets since 2019 while averaging nearly 14 yards per catch between 2019 and 2020.

Cooper has missed nine games since joining The 'Boys three years ago, which has served to demonstrate just how essential his presence is to Prescott’s success. In those nine contests, Dallas averages a shade over 20 points per game and Prescott’s passer rating languishes at 86.2.

Conversely, the Cowboys scoring average shoots up close to 30 and Prescott enjoys a 106.2 passer rating with Cooper lining up on the perimeter.

"He has a 63% completion percentage and loses 60 yards a game [without Cooper]," Cowherd said. "That is a different quarterback."

In Prescott's 39 regular-season starts before Cooper arrived in Dallas, he put together a 25-14 record, including 8,408 passing yards (215.6 passing YPG), 53 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. He had three games with 300-plus passing yards and never eclipsed 400 passing yards.

After Cooper landed with the Cowboys, Prescott has gone 28-16 in 44 games. He's racked up 13,084 passing yards (297.4 passing YPG), 88 TDs, 27 INTs, 16 games with 300-plus passing yards and nine games with 400-plus passing yards.

The biggest roadblock to keeping Cooper is his monstrous $20 million salary — the Cowboys could clear $16 million in much-needed cap space by releasing him this offseason — and sacrificing wide receiver depth to bolster other position groups holds up as a conventionally wise move.

However, Cowherd asserts that the Cincinnati Bengals’ success demonstrates that outstanding offensive weapons can and should be prioritized over shoring up weaknesses in other areas.

"We know what’s happening with the league," Cowherd said. "[The] Cincinnati Bengals had a weak linebacking corps [and] a bad O-line and they made the Super Bowl. Why? Quarterback and great weapons. That’s the league. Those are the rules."

Cooper suffered a down year in 2021 with 865 receiving yards, his fewest in blue and white, and expressed public frustration with the Cowboys offense and his lack of red zone targets. So how did Cooper’s regression affect the Dallas attack?

Surprisingly little.

The Cowboys led the NFL in 2021 with 31.2 points per game in 2021, with CeeDee Lamb leading the team in receptions and catches, and tight end Dalton Schultz emerging from run-blocking obscurity to rack up more than 800 receiving yards.

Still, in two regular-season games without Cooper last season, Dallas fell to Kansas City in Week 11 (19-9) and then fell to the Raiders on Thanksgiving Day (36-33).

In those games, Prescott completed 66.7% of his passes for 591 yards, two TDs and two picks.

When matched up against San Francisco’ elite defense in the playoffs, Cooper racked up nearly 70 yards and the team’s only receiving touchdown.

Cooper’s presence in key moments, along with a proven need for depth at receiver, brought Cowherd to give the side-eye to the Cowboys, if they do indeed release Cooper.

"There's a maturity and reliability with him [Cooper] that I like and appreciate," Cowherd said. "I don’t like this. I’d bring back Amari Cooper and figure something else out."