Cowboys’ Amari Cooper On His Future
In 2019, Amari Cooper built off of his strong half-season in Dallas to turn his best full campaign yet. Cooper reeled in 79 catches en route to career-high marks in receiving yards (1,189) and touchdowns (8) and solidified himself as one of the game’s best wide receivers.
[RELATED: Cowboys Hire George Edwards]
Meanwhile, the Cowboys sagged on the whole – they went 8-8, missed the playoffs, and fired longtime head coach Jason Garrett after Week 17.
Despite his individual accomplishments, Cooper admits the team’s disheartening Week 16 loss to the Eagles sticks in his mind.
“That game was so important because it decided whether or not we’d go to the playoffs,” Cooper told Nick Shook of NFL.com. “Obviously, if you go to the playoffs you have an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl. We had our fate in our own hands and we blew it, so then we had to rely on other stuff to happen for us to get into the playoffs. You never want to put yourself in that position where you don’t control your own destiny.”
Now, the focus shifts to Cooper’s destiny. The former first round pick is scheduled to reach free agency in March and projects to be one of the most in-demand players on the open market. Still, he tells NFL.com’s Jane Slater (on Twitter) that he wants to be in Dallas for a long time.
Here’s a look at Cooper’s thoughts as the big date nears:
On the importance of money vs. other factors:
“I don’t think it’s all about money… If you’re a highly touted free agent, you’re going to get paid a lot of money no matter where you go. Is it worth it to go somewhere that you probably don’t want to go as far as, you might be a guy like me who’s from South Florida who’s never played a game in the snow?”
“Is it worth a million dollars more a year or two million dollars more a year, especially if you’re taking care of your money investment-wise, is it worth that two being in an environment that you don’t want to be in? Or would you like to stay somewhere in the south? It’s not all about money.”
On the importance of playing with a top-level quarterback:
“His success is part of how good I’m doing and my success is part of how good he’s doing. So I definitely, if I had to test the market I’d definitely be evaluating quarterbacks and stuff like that to see if I want to play with them or not.”
Cowboys Hire George Edwards
Former Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards has agreed to join the Cowboys’ coaching staff, as Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram tweets. Edwards will work with the Cowboys’ linebackers, but his role will encompass more than that. The team announced that Edwards’ title will be senior defensive assistant. 
[RELATED: Cowboys Were Close To Extension With Dak Prescott]
Although head coach Mike Zimmer retained his job as the Vikings head coach, the early offseason saw a significant overhaul of his coaching staff. After offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski left to take on the Browns’ HC position, the Vikings parted ways with Edwards, who had served as their defensive coordinator since 2014.
Edwards, 52, has been in the NFL in some capacity for every season since 1998. He was Washington’s defensive coordinator in 2003, and Buffalo’s from 2010-11. He’s also served as a positional coach with a handful of different stops.
In Dallas, he’ll work under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. Given his experience, it seems likely that Edwards will have a higher title attached to his linebackers coach mantle.
In related news, the club officially named Joe Philbin its offensive line coach.
Latest On Leighton Vander Esch
Mike McCarthy has hired several notable assistants to his first Cowboys staff, and the ex-Packers coach is considering making another big addition. The Cowboys are interviewing former Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards for a staff position, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. While Dallas hired Mike Nolan as DC, McCarthy and Edwards have a long history in the NFC North. The pair coached against one another for years when McCarthy ran Green Bay’s offense, and Edwards has a history in Dallas. He spent four seasons (1998-2001) as the Cowboys’ linebackers coach — his first NFL gig. Edwards, 53, was believed to be in the mix for the Browns’ DC job, but the team prefers 49ers secondary coach Joe Woods for the post.
- An Amari Cooper long-term deal with the Cowboys has been on the team’s agenda for over a year, and the Pro Bowl wideout has long expressed a desire to stay. But no agreement is imminent, Cooper said (via NFL.com’s Jane Slater, video link). Stephen Jones identified Cooper as the Cowboys’ No. 2 offseason priority, behind Dak Prescott, and Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk expects a deal to be finalized.
- The neck surgery Leighton Vander Esch underwent this month went well, and Jerry Jones expects the standout linebacker to be ready for OTAs, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News notes. Although Vander Esch was battling nerve damage and missed much of the second half of this season, this was a minimally invasive procedure. However, Vander Esch’s cervical spinal stenosis condition — diagnosed before he became a 2018 first-rounder — makes future neck surgeries problematic, per Gehlken. So this will be a Cowboys situation to monitor going forward.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/22/20
We’ll keep track of today’s reserve/futures deals here:
Dallas Cowboys
Cowboys Were Close To Extension With Dak Prescott
Back in September, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called an extension with quarterback Dak Prescott “imminent.” Months later, Prescott and the Cowboys still do not have a new contract in place, which means that the club may have to put the franchise tag on their signal-caller, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency in March.
However, Jones wasn’t being hyperbolic in his September comments regarding a new deal. Sources tell Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the two sides were indeed close to an agreement that would have paid Prescott $33MM per year, but those talks broke down when Prescott got off to a hot start.
Prescott may have been eyeing Russell Wilson‘s $35MM AAV after his great start to the 2019 campaign, but after a less impressive second half of the season, his value may have returned to that $33MM/year range. Of course, the real question will be what type of guaranteed money the Cowboys will be required to pony up, and it seems unlikely they will be able to avoid giving Prescott at least $100MM in full guarantees.
Hill says the Cowboys’ biggest focus is getting a deal with Prescott done, which is especially important given that new head coach Mike McCarthy will be installing a new offense. McCarthy believes Prescott is an elite QB, and the team wants to keep him around for the long haul.
“We’ve got to land the plane and get his deal done,” vice president Stephen Jones recently said. “We got real, real, real close there to start the season and just didn’t get it finished up. He’s so laser-focused on wanting to win football games and compete that he really didn’t want the distraction once we didn’t get it done in that first week of going back and forth with the contract. We just got to move forward. He’s our quarterback of the future. I’ll take him any time when you go to war against these guys. We’re fortunate to have him.”
Cowboys Hire Scott McCurley As LBs Coach
The new Cowboys full coaching staff under Mike McCarthy was announced earlier this week. While our Pro Football Rumors reported the majority of the hirings earlier this week, we realized we had forgotten to mention that Scott McCurley had become the teams new linebackers coach, according to Jon Machota of The Athletic.
McCurley worked under McCarthy during his Green Bay tenure, serving as a defensive quality control coach from 2009-2014, then as the assistant linebackers coach from 2014-2017, and as a defensive assistant from 2017-2019.
The Cowboys roster will likely take a significantly different form given the impending free agencies of Dak Prescott, Byron Jones, and Amari Cooper. McCurley fills out a very experienced coaching staff assigned with bringing a Dallas roster full of elite talent, especially on the offensive end, to the next level. While McCurley will get to work with a group headlined by the talented duo of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch and veteran Sean Lee.
Cowboys Hire Adam Henry As WRs Coach
It’s uncertain what the Cowboys’ receivers depth chart will look like heading into next season, but the team has some clarity when it comes to the coaching staff. ESPN’s Todd Archer reports that Dallas has hired Adam Henry as their new wide receivers coach.
Henry has been coaching since 1997. He joined the Raiders as an offensive quality control coach in 2007, and he later coached Oakland’s tight ends. Since 2012, Henry has solely served as a wide receivers coach during his stints with LSU, the 49ers, the Giants, and the Browns. He had spent the past two seasons in Cleveland.
In Dallas, he’ll be replacing Sanjay Lal on Mike McCarthy‘s revamped coaching staff. Archer notes that the newly-hired head coach now has a lead coach at every position.
There’s some question marks when it comes to the Cowboys receivers corps next season. While impending free agent Amari Cooper is predictably stealing the headlines (along with quarterback Dak Prescott), veterans Randall Cobb and Tavon Austin are also set to hit the market. That leaves Michael Gallup as the one certainty heading into the offseason.
NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Jeffery
New head coach Mike McCarthy has plenty of changes in the works for the Cowboys, but they won’t be straying from their 4-3 defense. When speaking with reporters, McCarthy confirmed that the team’s base will continue to be four down linemen, though they’ll mix things up with their playbook (Twitter link via Jon Machota of The Athletic).
The defense will be run by Mike Nolan, who joined McCarthy in Dallas earlier this month. On the other side of the ball, Kellen Moore will stay as the OC and be in charge of play calling.
Here’s more from the NFC East:
- The Eagles’ need for help at wide receiver is glaring, but the contracts of Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson will limit their flexibility, as Zach Berman of The Athletic writes. Releasing Jeffery, who is coming off of an injury-riddled and subpar season, would saddle the Eagles with $26.1MM in dead money and zero cap savings. A trade would result in $16.2MM in dead money – a slightly less painful hit – but they’d likely have to sweeten the pot with a draft pick, a la the Brock Osweiler deal. Jeffery reportedly clashed with teammates last year, but the Eagles are probably stuck with him. If Jeffery isn’t on the roster, Berman writes, it’ll show just how badly the relationship soured.
- Regarding Jackson, Berman believes his place on the roster is more of a given. Cutting DJax after he missed much of the season with an abdomenal injury might be a stronger consideration if it wouldn’t cost the Eagles $12.54MM with zero cap relief. Instead, you can expect DJax to fly with the Birds yet again in 2020. The Eagles will hope that the 33-year-old can stay healthy and resume his place as one of the league’s most dangerous deep threats.
- In more positive cap news, the Eagles are projected to have $46.9MM to spend this offseason. Eagles GM Howie Roseman could push that number even higher by trading safety Malcolm Jenkins or linebacker Nigel Bradham, as Eliot Shorr-Parks of WIP writes. Jenkins is adamant that he won’t play for the Eagles “on the same deal” in 2020, so a trade seems likely if the two sides cannot come to an accord on an extension.
Kellen Moore To Call Cowboys’ Plays
Kellen Moore will stay on board as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and he will be the one calling the plays, head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed. Not everything will remain exactly the same, of course – the head coach explained that Moore will be blending McCarthy’s schemes with the Cowboys’ existing terminology. 
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“Between us,” McCarthy said of Moore and himself. “We can take this offense forward another step.”
Under Moore, the Cowboys jumped from 22nd in total offense to first from 2018-19. Another step forward would restore the Cowboys as Super Bowl contenders in 2020, provided that the defense holds up. It’ll be interesting to see how the offenses combine. Under Jason Garrett, Moore ran a version of the Air Coryell offense, which is drastically different from McCarthy’s West Coast philosophy.
Moore had other opportunities this offseason, including an opportunity to return to his home state and manage the University of Washington’s offense. The opportunity to make full use of his headset likely played in a role in Moore’s return to Dallas.
Cowboys Hire Skip Peete
The Giants have interviewed both former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and incumbent offensive coordinator Mike Shula for their vacant OC position, but new head coach Joe Judge may have a few other names in mind, as well. Judge is interested in speaking to ex-Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens and former Dolphins OC Chad O’Shea about positions on his staff, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. Kitchens served as the Browns’ offensive play-caller during the latter portion of the 2018 campaign before becoming head coach in 2019, while O’Shea lasted only one year in Miami. Both could presumably also be considered as position coaches on Judge’s staff.
- New Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has hired Skip Peete as running backs coach, reports Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Peete, who previously coached in Dallas from 2007-12, spent the last four seasons with the Rams, and also has experience with the Raiders and Bears. He’ll be replacing Gary Brown, who had taken over for Peete in 2013.