2020 franchise tag for Cooper?

Hawkeye0202

Hawkeye0202

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Considering the big-five contracts ( Zeke, Dak, Cooper, Byron Jones, and DLaw ) over the next couple of years, Cooper has the most leverage coz there's no way in hell we let him walk after investing a 1st round pick. Other words, don't look for his agent to do us any favors at negotiating table and for that reason SAVING, 2020 tag for Cooper is paramount. Bottom line, this IMO highlights the importance of getting Dak AND DLaw sign 2019.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/amari-cooper-16728/
 
If he’s going to be here long term, which he is, then the franchise tag will cost us more than a real contract. But stranger things have happened.
 
Hawkeye0202 said:
Considering the big-five contracts ( Zeke, Dak, Cooper, Byron Jones, and DLaw ) over the next couple of years, Cooper has the most leverage coz there's no way in hell we let him walk after investing a 1st round pick. Other words, don't look for his agent to do us any favors at negotiating table and for that reason SAVING, 2020 tag for Cooper is paramount. Bottom line, this IMO highlights the importance of getting Dak AND DLaw sign 2019.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/amari-cooper-16728/
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He's getting extended. I mean it's pretty much a fact.
 
Outlaw Heroes said:
Not when you had already invested your first round pick. Your position here is, frankly, unjustifiable.
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Letting a WR walk after you traded for him isn't a crazy move. The Pats traded a first for Cooks, didn't give him a new contract, and traded him after a season. The Rams traded a second for Watkins, didn't give him a new contract, and sent him to free agency at the end of one year. Hell, we let Roy Williams walk like 2 years after we traded a first for him, and we were on the hook for a big new contract too.

Amari was going to get a boatload of cash if we paid him up front and he was going to get a boatload of cash if we waited until the end of the season. Heck, we could even let him play out his 5th year option with us and hit him with the franchise tag if we wanted, then negotiate the boatload of cash from there. There was no reason to hurry.
 
ItzKelz said:
He's getting extended. I mean it's pretty much a fact.
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No question but the point of the thread is that leverage he has to demand top pay coz we almost have to resign him. With that being said, we better make darn sure the franchise tag is available.
 
beware_d-ware said:
Letting a WR walk after you traded for him isn't a crazy move. The Pats traded a first for Cooks, didn't give him a new contract, and traded him after a season. The Rams traded a second for Watkins, didn't give him a new contract, and sent him to free agency at the end of one year. Hell, we let Roy Williams walk like 2 years after we traded a first for him, and we were on the hook for a big new contract too.

Amari was going to get a boatload of cash if we paid him up front and he was going to get a boatload of cash if we waited until the end of the season. Heck, we could even let him play out his 5th year option with us and hit him with the franchise tag if we wanted, then negotiate the boatload of cash from there. There was no reason to hurry.
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One of the biggest advantages in getting your talent through the draft is that you lock up the player for relatively cheap dollars for the first 4 years. (There's a 5th year option on 1st rounders, but it's typically not cheap: Cooper's cap hit for his option year will be around $14M, for example).

We gave up 3.5 years of cheap production by trading for Cooper (i.e. because we only got 1/2 year of cheap production plus the 5th year option). That was justifiable, if at all, only because Cooper was a proven commodity, unlike any WR we could have drafted in round 1. But once you accept that justification, there's no taking a wait and see approach: you believed in the player enough to give up those 3.5 years of cheap labor on the basis that he was a proven commodity. It's incoherent to then say 'I need to see him prove himself before I give him a contract'.

The Patriots actually only ended paying a 4th for Cooks because they recovered their first rounder (in exchange for Cooks and a 4th) in the trade with the Rams. Otherwise, they too would have made a mistake.
 
If we are gonna tag somebody, it's way smarter to tag Zeke. It would be crazy to tag Cooper because of the expense associated with the position.

Here are the projected tag amounts for each position, provided by Over The Cap:

Position Franchise Tag Transition Tag
QB $25,578,000 $23,356,000
DE $18,653,000 $15,735,000
WR $17,101,000 $14,738,000
CB $15,992,000 $13,891,000
LB $15,777,000 $13,627,000
DT $15,571,000 $12,287,000
OL $15,283,000 $13,717,000
S $12,037,000 $10,268,000
RB $11,980,000 $9,739,000
TE $10,930,000 $9,124,000
ST $5,162,000 $4,712,00


As you can see, the numbers indicate that between the QB, WR, OL, CB, DE and LB positions, RB is by far cheaper to Franchise. If we are going to designate a position, RB is the smarter way to go.
 
Hawkeye0202 said:
No question but the point of the thread is that leverage he has to demand top pay coz we almost have to resign him. With that being said, we better make darn sure the franchise tag is available.
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It would be cheaper to extend him than wait for him to have a 120 receptions and 15 TDs. The average of the top 5 WRs is probably more than he would get in a contract as well.
 
I would guess that if we could not get a contract done, we could probably get a higher pick back for Cooper, then what we traded, based on his performance from last year.

Obviously, that's not what we would want to have happen but if push came to shove, we should be able to come out ahead on a deal like that.

JMO
 
If he's part of the future plans, and it seems he is given his age and success, extend him. If he continues his quality of play, his agents asking price will only increase.
 
Outlaw Heroes said:
One of the biggest advantages in getting your talent through the draft is that you lock up the player for relatively cheap dollars for the first 4 years. (There's a 5th year option on 1st rounders, but it's typically not cheap: Cooper's cap hit for his option year will be around $14M, for example).

We gave up 3.5 years of cheap production by trading for Cooper (i.e. because we only got 1/2 year of cheap production plus the 5th year option). That was justifiable, if at all, only because Cooper was a proven commodity, unlike any WR we could have drafted in round 1. But once you accept that justification, there's no taking a wait and see approach: you believed in the player enough to give up those 3.5 years of cheap labor on the basis that he was a proven commodity. It's incoherent to then say 'I need to see him prove himself before I give him a contract'.

The Patriots actually only ended paying a 4th for Cooks because they recovered their first rounder (in exchange for Cooks and a 4th) in the trade with the Rams. Otherwise, they too would have made a mistake.
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Who knows what one season can bring... I bet you the Pats and Rams are happy they didn't pay their brand new WRs right away.

When you trade a 1st for a guy, you are obviously thinking about paying him, but you don't necessarily have to offer a contract immediately. Sometimes you can pay him up front and it works (Rams with Cooks), sometimes you can wait and it works (Watkins, Cooks w/Pats). There are justifiable reasons to do both.
 
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Hawkeye0202 said:
Considering the big-five contracts ( Zeke, Dak, Cooper, Byron Jones, and DLaw ) over the next couple of years, Cooper has the most leverage coz there's no way in hell we let him walk after investing a 1st round pick. Other words, don't look for his agent to do us any favors at negotiating table and for that reason SAVING, 2020 tag for Cooper is paramount. Bottom line, this IMO highlights the importance of getting Dak AND DLaw sign 2019.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/amari-cooper-16728/
Click to expand...

I'll pay Cooper 5-years $85 million in an extension at this point. $17 million a year is the current top end for receivers, so I think he and his agent would take that deal. And I would prefer to get it done now rather than to see a repeat of the Demarcus Lawrence situation where you wait a year too long and the market resets itself with huge deals like happened with Aaron Donald and then Khalil Mack.

When Antonio Brown is traded, he'll reset the wide receiver market.
 
ABQCOWBOY said:
If we are gonna tag somebody, it's way smarter to tag Zeke. It would be crazy to tag Cooper because of the expense associated with the position.

Here are the projected tag amounts for each position, provided by Over The Cap:

Position Franchise Tag Transition Tag
QB $25,578,000 $23,356,000
DE $18,653,000 $15,735,000
WR $17,101,000 $14,738,000
CB $15,992,000 $13,891,000
LB $15,777,000 $13,627,000
DT $15,571,000 $12,287,000
OL $15,283,000 $13,717,000
S $12,037,000 $10,268,000
RB $11,980,000 $9,739,000
TE $10,930,000 $9,124,000
ST $5,162,000 $4,712,00


As you can see, the numbers indicate that between the QB, WR, OL, CB, DE and LB positions, RB is by far cheaper to Franchise. If we are going to designate a position, RB is the smarter way to go.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree but the problem is Coop is a 2020 free agent. Know we have almost no choice but extend him or lose our investment, how much you think his agent is going ask for. I'm guessing a min top 3 contract. At least with Zeke will have until 2021. But my point is we have to approach 2020 knowing the franchise is avail if needed. Bottom line, we can not take Dak or DLaw long-term contract issues into 2020 coz there's only one TAG with three of our ELITE players becoming free agents.
 
They should sign him this offseason. The amount is only going to go up. If he has another pro bowl year in 2019, he could look to be the top paid WR in the NFL
 
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