The Cowboys ended up keeping their wide receiver corps intact as this week’s trade deadline came and went, despite their reported interest in making an addition at the position. That had them connected with one player in particular, but the team cast a wide net in seeking trade partners. 
Dallas was listed amongst several teams calling the Texans about the availability of veteran speedster Brandin Cooks. That led to negotiations taking place deep into Tuesday afternoon, but no deal materialized. The $18MM in guaranteed money on Cooks’ deal next season proved too much to overcome (as was the case with other interested parties), along with Houston’s asking price.
Speaking about the Cowboys’ talks regarding other available wideouts, EVP Stephen Jones said, “You’re never there until you’re there. It was an intense day and [it] really felt like we had some things that might work out but unfortunately they didn’t and on several fronts we just weren’t able to get it done” (Twitter link via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram).
In the build-up to the deadline, it came out that the Cowboys were open to a move aimed at augmenting their receiving corps. The team has struggled to replace Amari Cooper since moving him out this offseason. CeeDee Lamb has made the expected transition to the Cowboys’ undisputed No. 1 wideout, but secondary production has been lacking. Dallas ranks 28th in the league in passing yards (201 per game), a figure skewed in part by the absence of quarterback Dak Prescott, of course, but one which also explains their interest in making an addition.
It remains unclear which receivers in particular the Cowboys were targeting at the deadline, one which saw the Bears acquire Chase Claypool from the Steelers, and Atlanta send Calvin Ridley to the Jaguars. The latter transaction was aimed exclusively at 2023 and beyond, but Dallas’ current receiving corps will be counted on in the second half of this campaign to carry the load offensively.
It was a colossal mistake dealing Cooper to begin with. what kind of talent evaluating moron thought trading him for a 5th rounder with that receiver room was a good idea? I’m a lifelong Cowboys fan but I am continually perplexed by the moronic moves the Jones’ make time and time again. How did they think they could count on Gallup to return from injury and be a number 2? At his healthiest and best he’s no more than a 3rd WR on a decent team and the rest of the guys in that room are proven 4 and 5 depth receivers.
His contract made it tough to deal him. I think if they could’ve gotten more than a 5th, they would have.
I forget who Dallas wanted to create CSP space to extend but I think it’s Pollard & Schultz?
Still … without any knowledge of the actual negotiations with Cleveland … the return for Cooper should’ve/could’ve been mitigated by eating a portion of his salary rather than the line-in-the-sand completely removing it from the books.
What DC is going to go with anything other than “we’ll adjust the game script to any short passes to Gallup/Tolbert/etc but the one standard is to make sure Lamb is covered.”
Again, I could be way off base but … ijs
“… cap space …”
“ It was an intense day” daddy had me work the phones like either of us knew what we were doing. Daddy said be careful don’t make a trade but make it look like we did so I can go on every outlet and tell everyone how smart I am still 25 years later.