Cooper was still Cooper. His value was still his value. Just because he's the second best WR on the team wouldn't have made him a worse WR.
We drafted Ceedee. Mid first round contract. Not a burden. Ferguson on a cheap contract.
20 mil to start CD, Cooper and Ferguson
>20 mil to start CD, Gallup and Schultz
That was an easy call, and they called it wrong.
Cooper had no more guaranteed money and could be cut, traded, or attempted to bargain down whenever we decided. Spotrac has his Estimated Market Value still at 18.9Mil.
Instead, we locked in Gallup for 2 years at 7 figures per year. Another bad call.
I said at the time that we should have traded Gallup after Dak broke his ankle. That was Peak Gallup. I was proved right.