Getty Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett defended the decision to trade for Amari Cooper.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett defended his team’s decision to trade a first-round pick for 24-year-old Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper.
“The value for a player like that at his age, that’s really what it costs you,” Garrett told 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday. “It costs you a first-round pick. If we were to get him in the draft next spring, you would say, ‘Boy, is there any receiver who is as good as a guy like Amari Cooper?’ He’s not 28, 29, 30. You’re not paying for a guy for what he’s done for the past six, seven, eight years for another team.
“We feel like he has it in front of him and he can really benefit our team going forward because of the ability he has and the kind of person he is.”
The Cowboys have been extremely successful drafting in the first round. Their last nine first-round draft picks have totaled seven All-Pro first team nods and 17 Pro Bowls.
“Obviously it’s a big decision,” Garrett added. “We talked about it a lot, at all levels of our organization. I do believe we’ve done a good job selecting guys in the first round and they are cornerstone players on our team. We really believe that Amari can be that kind of a guy. He’s 24 years old. We think he has a bright future.”
Cowboys Passing Game Struggling
Dallas’ passing attack has been one of the worst in the NFL. They rank 29th in the league with 183.1 passing yards per game, ahead of only the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, and Buffalo Bills.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is in the midst of his least productive season, though it’s hard to say whether that’s a result of his declining play or his having to lean on a wide receiver corps that consists of possession receiver Cole Beasley, rookie Michael Gallup, Jacksonville Jaguars castoff Allen Hurns, gadget receiver Tavon Austin, and little else.
Fortunately, they’ll have the bye week to implement Cooper into the offense.
“It’s going to require overtime by him, by the coaches, to get him going,” Garrett noted. “But we do benefit from having the bye and having a few extra days.”
Inconsistency From Amari Cooper
Cooper, in his fourth season, has been boom-or-bust in 2018. In four of Oakland’s six games, he failed to amass 20 or more receiving yards. But in each of those other two, he hauled in at least eight catches and gained 116 or more yards through the air. The former Alabama standout kicked his career off with a pair of 1,000-yard seasons, but he had a down year in 2017, totaling 680 receiving yards in 14 games.
Beasley’s the only Cowboys receiver to top the 100-yard mark this year, totaling 101 receiving yards in the team’s 40-17 victory over the Jaguars in Week 6.