The Dallas Cowboys are just one NFL team that makes mistakes that they later come to regret.
It has been exactly two years since Dallas dealt Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick as of this writing. They no longer had the funds to pay Cooper because they made this move just days after inking fellow receiver Michael Gallup to a five-year, $57.5 million contract extension.
It was anticipated that he would recover from his injuries well for the upcoming season, but regrettably, that was not to be. Despite playing in all 17 games, Gallup would end up with just 424 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 2022. In 2023, he would post a similar stat line of 418 yards and two touchdowns. Although not bad for a No. 3 receiver, those stats are unquestionably not worth spending more than $11 million a year on.
Cooper, meantime, has remained his incredible self in Cleveland—possibly even better than in Dallas. The former Cowboys standout has amassed 2,410 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first two seasons with the Browns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl the previous season. Dallas has had some difficulty finding a good backup to CeeDee Lamb, but that would not have been an issue if they had kept Cooper around.
