Cowboys: 3 worst moves of the 2022 offseason

1. Trading Amari Cooper only to re-sign Michael Gallup

This is obviously the one that’s going to bother everyone and, well, it should. While the Cowboys were forced to cut Collins, as mentioned, they were also trending towards cutting Amari Cooper as well before the Cleveland Browns swooped in at the 11th hour to trade only a fifth- and sixth-round pick to Dallas for the 27-year-old wide receiver.

Dallas, Jerry Jones specifically, offered the reasoning that Cooper’s $20 million salary didn’t match his production. But any fan who watched the Cowboys over the past year or more saw how pivotal of a role Cooper played in the offense. While CeeDee Lamb continues to develop into a likely star for the offense, Cooper was the security blanket and still one of the best route-runners in the league.

However, with his salary, it would’ve made sense to part with Cooper if it weren’t for what many saw as a follow-up move when they re-signed wide receiver Michael Gallup to a deal worth more than $12 million per year while he’s making his way back from a torn ACL suffered in the back-half of last season.

So the Cowboys cut a proven former first-round pick in order to re-sign a player who has been injury prone and hasn’t been as productive. Moreover, they didn’t use any of that extra money to make any real free-agency moves of substance.

While there are financial justifications for trading Cooper, the on-field results are almost undoubtedly going to be worse. And that’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for the 2022 campaign and beyond.