Cowboys Meet With Obi Melifonwu
Former Raiders cornerback Obi Melifonwu will meet with the Cowboys on Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. And, in addition to Melifonwu, the Cowboys will also meet with veteran defensive back Teddy Williams, according to ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (on Twitter). 
If Melifonwu signs, he’ll rejoin former Raiders teammate Amari Cooper, as well as former UConn teammate Byron Jones. He’ll also enter the building with lower expectations than last year when he entered the league as a second-round pick of the Raiders.
As a rookie, a hip issue kept Melifonwu off of the field. This summer, he was stuck in the trainer’s room again, and Jon Gruden lost patience with his recovery. Melifonwu had a great career at UConn and showed serious athleticism in pre-draft workouts, so the potential is still there for him to do big things at the NFL level.
Williams signed his first NFL contract with the Cowboys in 2010. Back then, Williams was an raw track athlete who was only starting to put his full focus on football. Years later, he has proven himself as a quality special teams player. If signed, Williams can handle special teams duties and take C.J. Goodwin‘s spot on the cornerback depth chart.
Cowboys Injury Notes: Gregory, Goodwin, Martin, Swaim
- After having dealt with discomfort through the early part of the season, Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee today, reports ESPN’s Todd Archer (via Twitter). Fortunately, the 25-year-old is expected to be ready for his team’s next game against the Titans on November 5th. Gregory has compiled 10 tackles and one sack in six games this season. Meanwhile, Archer notes that right guard Zack Martin and tight end Geoff Swaim suffered sprained MCL’s this weekend, and there’s optimism that the pair will be back following the bye week.
- Cowboys C.J. Goodwin broke his forearm during Sunday’s loss to the Redskins and will miss the rest of the season, reports ProFootballTalk.com (via Twitter). The 28-year-old journeyman has collected a single tackle in two games this season. The Cowboys could be seeking some cornerback reinforcement for the bench behind Anthony Brown and Jourdan Lewis.
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Fallout From Raiders’ Trade Of Amari Cooper
After looking at the Amari Cooper trade from the Cowboys’ perspective, let’s take a look at things from the Raiders’ side:
- Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie insists that Cooper’s contract situation, or the fact that he is represented by the same agent as Khalil Mack agent (Joel Segal) had nothing to do with his desire to make a deal (Twitter link via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area).
- McKenzie said the trade “was an opportunity I couldn’t pass on, to get a first-round pick. … I love Amari but I just felt it came down to getting the pick,” (Twitter link via Vic Tafur of The Athletic).
- The Raiders are now in a full rebuild mode, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) doesn’t think they’re done yet. Safety Karl Joseph is another first-rounder who could be available, giving the Raiders a chance to add even more to their 2019 draft haul. As Rapoport understands it, quarterback Derek Carr and cornerback Gareon Conley are unlikely to be dealt, but many other players could be had for the right price.
- Head coach Jon Gruden did not immediately address the trade with his team (Twitter link via Michael Gehlken of the Review-Journal). Some players saw Cooper pulled off of the practice field on Monday but didn’t know why until they checked their phones in the locker room.
Fallout From Cowboys’ Trade For Amari Cooper
On Monday, the Cowboys pulled off a blockbuster trade by acquiring multiple-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper from the Raiders. Many were surprised to hear that the Cowboys gave up a first-round pick for the wide receiver, but the Cowboys had their reasons for splurging. Here’s a look at the fallout from the Cooper deal from the Cowboys’ perspective:
- Before the trade, the Cowboys were committed to taking a wide receiver high in the 2019 draft, likely in the first round (Twitter link via Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports.) By dealing for Cooper instead, the Cowboys believe they have secured a star wide receiver who is already proven and can contribute right away.
- Cooper knows he doesn’t have the leverage to land the sizable extension he will eventually seek, and the Cowboys were sold on the deal upon learning that he was OK with holding off on extension talks (Twitter link via Robinson). Cooper, who hasn’t done a whole lot in his last 20 games, is willing to play through his 2019 fifth-year option, which will pay $13.9MM.
- Gil Brandt of NFL.com (on Twitter) doesn’t have any wide receivers in his top 25 for the 2019 draft. Therefore, if the Cowboys drafted around No. 20, they’d be reaching for a wide receiver less capable than Cooper and wouldn’t have him for the second half of this season. The Cowboys had a similar evaluation of things, Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram tweets.
- “[Cooper is] a younger veteran receiver – only 24 tears old – who can do lot of things in our offense and we don’t have to wait for him to learn how to play in NFL,” said a high-ranking Cowboys source (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Chris Mortensen).
- In giving up a first-round pick for Cooper, the Cowboys are further casting their lot with Dak Prescott as their quarterback of the future, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. His reasoning is that the Cowboys would have had to use a first-round pick in order to be in the QB market in next year’s draft.
Eagles, Jets, Others Pursued Amari Cooper
The Cowboys did not wait for trade deadline week to make their move, unloading a first-round pick to land Amari Cooper from the Raiders. They look to have fought off several others to acquire the fourth-year wide receiver.
Reggie McKenzie said (via Vic Tafur of The Athletic, on Twitter) he spurned initial offers, but that five teams upped their offerings until the Cowboys parted with their next first-round selection. Teams were contacting the Raiders about Cooper as early as the offseason and continued to do so during the season’s opening weeks before recent media reports accelerated the process, McKenzie said (via NBC Sports Bay Area’s Scott Bair and the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Michael Gehlken, Twitter links).
One team that was in the thick of the pursuit: the Eagles. The defending Super Bowl champions were interested in Cooper, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (video link) other suitors ended up being scared off by the Raiders’ first-round demand. The Cowboys’ initial offer didn’t satisfy the Raiders, either, and they weren’t the first team to ask about Cooper. But executive VP Stephen Jones called McKenzie with the first-round offer and completed the deal Monday morning.
The Jets were involved as well, with Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweeting Gang Green had some interest in a player current team brass loved coming out of the draft in 2015. Just as in the case of Khalil Mack, though, the Jets chose not to part with the kind of draft compensation a trade ultimately required. It’s unclear, however, if the Jets made an offer, per Cimini.
Both the Redskins and Colts were rumored to be interested as well. The Jets are banged up at wide receiver and don’t have much in the way of long-term options at that spot. The Eagles just paid up for Alshon Jeffery and have Nelson Agholor on the books for 2019 via fifth-year option. Cooper now stands to be on the Cowboys’ 2019 payroll via $13MM-plus fifth-year option.
Cowboys To Cut Brice Butler
Brice Butler‘s latest Cowboys stint will end as a result of the franchise’s Amari Cooper acquisition. The Cowboys informed Butler they intend to release him, Jane Slater of NFL.com tweets.
The veteran wide receiver rejoined the Cowboys this year after a Cardinals signing did not work out. He played in one game thus far this season and did not catch a pass.
The well-traveled pass-catcher averaged 21.1 yards per catch last season and parlayed that work into a two-year Arizona deal. He did not end up making the Cardinals’ 53-man roster, though, and returned to the Cowboys as roster depth for a shaky receiving corps.
Having begun his career with the Raiders as a seventh-round pick, Reggie McKenzie traded Butler to the Cowboys prior to the 2015 season. He played three seasons in Dallas.
Cowboys To Acquire Amari Cooper
The Cowboys and Raiders have reached an agreement on Amari Cooper, with ESPN.com’s Josina Anderson reporting (via Twitter) the fourth-year wide receiver will head to Dallas. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets this transaction is indeed happening.
The compensation is big. Dallas will send a first-round pick to Oakland for Cooper, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). It’s a 2019 pick, per SI.com’s Albert Breer (on Twitter). The Oakland/Las Vegas rebuild is in high gear, with the franchise now holding three first-rounders in next year’s draft.
Oakland received an offer for a pick expected to be in the high second-round range, per La Canfora (on Twitter), and turned it down, to the surprise of many around the league. But Gruden has recouped a first-round pick for a wideout whose value doesn’t appear to be what it once was.
While this marks another Reggie McKenzie first-rounder dealt, Breer tweets the Raiders GM handled the trade calls for Cooper and was holding teams to a first-round pick for the 24-year-old receiver’s services. The now-Jon Gruden-led Raiders have traded both of McKenzie’s top first-round acquisitions — Cooper and Khalil Mack — in a two-months span.
Cooper was at Raiders practice earlier on Monday, per ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez (on Twitter), but has been the subject of trade rumors for several days now. The Cowboys are swooping in, doing so after their record dipped below .500 after a Week 7 loss to the Redskins.
While Cooper has not shown the consistency he displayed during his first two seasons — both Pro Bowl campaigns — the Raiders wanted a first-round pick for him and will receive it. The Colts and Redskins were also rumored Cooper suitors, but he’ll head to a team with a dire need at wide receiver. Cooper is signed through the 2019 season, with the Raiders having picked up the 2015 No. 5 overall pick’s $13.924MM fifth-year option.
The return is surprising given Cooper’s performance over the past two years.
He has one catch in Oakland’s past two games and has finished four of the Raiders’ six 2018 contests with two or fewer receptions. After he posted a career-best 1,153 receiving yards in 2016, the Alabama product’s 2017 total (680 yards on 48 receptions in 14 games) was a considerable disappointment.
But Cooper will step in and be a key player for a Cowboys team that cut Dez Bryant this offseason but did not, until Monday, make a big move to replace him. Third-round pick Michael Gallup and UFA addition Allen Hurns represented Jerry Jones‘ Bryant-replacement efforts. Cooper will join a receiving corps currently fronted by slot man Cole Beasley. Only Beasley and tight end Geoff Swaim have more than 200 receiving yards for Dallas. Hurns has only caught 13 passes for 158 yards, and Terrance Williams is on IR.
Cooper’s season will now have back-to-back bye weeks, and he’ll have two weeks before debuting as a Cowboy. Dallas faces Tennessee in Week 9.
While the Cowboys have shown intermittent promise this season and play in an NFC East that’s seen the favored Eagles stumble to start their title defense, a 3-4 team trading a first-round pick represents massive risk. The pick Dallas is sending to Oakland could be in the top half of next year’s first round. With the Raiders’ own first-rounder in contention for No. 1 overall in 2019, they will have prime real estate to bring in potential cornerstones for their Vegas start.
Cowboys Searching For Safeties Via Trade
The Cowboys are monitoring potential trade targets at receiver such as Amari Cooper, Kelvin Benjamin, and DeVante Parker, but they’re also looking at improvements on the defensive side of the ball. Dallas is interested in acquiring a safety via trade, per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link), who notes that such an addition would likely be a move for depth.
Dallas has deployed Jeff Heath and Xavier Woods as their starting safeties over the past four games. Kavon Frazier, meanwhile, started the club’s first two games while Woods was injured, but has barely played since. The Cowboys also recently signed former Giants starter Darian Thompson off the Cardinals’ practice squad.
All three of the Heath, Woods, and Frazier rank as bottom-12 defensive backs league-wide, per Pro Football Focus, and ranks just 23rd in pass defense DVOA , so a trade for a starer can’t be ruled out. Dallas, of course, discussed acquiring All-Pro Earl Thomas from the Seahawks before he went down with a season-ending injury.
Speculatively, safeties that could be available for trade include T.J. McDonald (Dolphins), Briean Boddy-Calhoun (Browns), Tre Boston (Cardinals), Antoine Bethea (Cardinals), and Kurt Coleman (Saints).
Cowboys Monitoring Amari Cooper, DeVante Parker, Kelvin Benjamin
- Raiders receiver Amari Cooper is clearly available via trade, and Rapoport says that the team has had the most significant discussions about Cooper with NFC East clubs, including the Cowboys. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirms that Dallas is doing its due diligence on Cooper, and Albert Breer of TheMMQB thinks there would be teams willing to part with a second-round choice for him, though it does not seem likely that Oakland will get the first-rounder it is reportedly seeking. Breer reports that the team wants a third-round pick in exchange for safety Karl Joseph.
- In addition to Cooper, the Cowboys are monitoring Dolphins WR DeVante Parker and Bills WR Kelvin Benjamin, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The Eagles have also spoken to Miami about Parker, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (via Twitter).
Sean Lee To Return In Different Role
- The Cowboys will have the services of Sean Lee on Sunday against the Redskins. Lee is not on Dallas’ injury report for its game against Washington. He missed the past three games because of a hamstring strain, opening the door for first-round pick Leighton Vander Esch to log plenty of playing time. Vander Esch responded and enters Week 7 as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 overall linebacker. Lee, Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith will split time in Dallas’ nickel package, Todd Archer of ESPN.com notes.