Could have had Dez for 800k and he’d still give you 8 touchdowns, good blocking, trick play touchdowns, and an ANOTHER 1st rd pick
On this team? Maybe, but he's not on the Cowboys, just supposition at this point.
But let's say he would have. Dez is 32 years old. Cooper is 26. Dez has had, over his career, fractures to his leg, foot, ankle, finger and patella, as well as a torn Achilles tendon. Not to mention the Covid-19 this year, which may have long term implications, we don't know. He's only played in 3 games this year, his history indicates he could very well have had more injuries if he'd played more games this year.
Cooper has basically had a concussion, some sprains and strains. What about next year? Or the year after? If you look at the team one year at a time, certainly you can make an argument Dez would have been just as good as Cooper this year and saved the Cowboys some money. But there's no way to know if the extra money would have resulted in getting better players, given Dallas' free agent signing history, that's doubtful.
Hey, Dez was very good in Dallas for a few years. Not his fault the team didn't win SBs or have more playoff success. But his time has passed, time to move on from Dez....