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[h=1]By PATRIK WALKER [/h]
Amari Cooper knows his payday is coming.
With that level of comfort, it's no wonder the last thing on his mind right now is what his next NFL contract will pay him. Coming off of a third pro bowl season wherein he also reeled in more than 1,000 yards for the third time in his four-year career, Cooper is one of the next Dallas Cowboys' cornerstone players to land a top-dollar contract extension. It works in the club's favor that the 24-year-old not only wants to remain in North Texas beyond 2019, but he's as cool as the underside of the pillow when asked how talks are going — fully confident in how the Cowboys see his value going forward.
"I'm more focused on actually playing and really earning the respect, and then the contract," Cooper said, via Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I really don't think much about it. I feel like we have time."
For now, at least, the once active talks between him and the Cowboys have hit a wall. There hasn't been any progress lately, a point confirmed by Cooper himself from minicamp — when he made it clear he hasn't spoken to his agent as of late — but the organization isn't necessarily concerned about the lack of progress just yet.
The key words here are, however, "just yet".
The Cowboys are no stranger to the waxing and waning of negotiation and they remain confident they'll ultimately secure Cooper for the future, but nothing is imminent at the moment.
The only problem there comes from outside of the organization, by way of wideouts Michael Thomas and Julio Jones. Deals are seemingly soon to land on both before training camps fire up in July, with the New Orleans Saints being comfortable with the idea of making Thomas the highest paid WR in the NFL. That will only occur if the Atlanta Falcons first reset the market with Jones to allow Thomas a chance to hurdle it, because if Thomas gets his money first then it'll be Jones likely walking away with the crown. In the meantime, Cooper is comfortably preparing for the heightened tide that will follow those deals, because it'll drive his market value that much higher without him lifting a finger.
Even if Cooper doesn't surpass both financially, his fate is still attached to their hot air balloon(s).
Much like the impact the Carson Wentz extension is having on talks with quarterback Dak Prescott, at the end of the day, the market always wins for cornerstone players.
It puts the Cowboys in a bit of a tenuous position, however, because while they try to get the deal on Prescott done before one additional QB complicates things that much more — namely Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams — they must contend with two other market setters in the WR market. This means whereas Prescott took the lead as the player most likely to land the next Cowboys' megadeal following the five-year, $105 million extension on defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, it appears to be Cooper taking the inside corner for the lead.
Playing the odds a bit here, there's a better chance of both Thomas and Jones pushing the market higher for Cooper prior to training camp than it is to assume Goff will garner a new deal and achieve the same for Prescott in that same timeframe.
The way things are going, it'd behoove the Cowboys to re-engage with Cooper quickly with the hopes he'd listen prior to the market shift, although that's not guaranteed either. Like Prescott, he has no incentive to rush things but lots of reasons to hold off a few more weeks, when he can command a higher price. His agent is also not naive to the fact the Cowboys are as far from salary cap hell as they've been in recent memory, with owner Jerry Jones himself proclaiming money is "never the issue", along with the fact they offered Sammy Watkins around $16 million per season just over a calendar year ago.
Spoiler alert: Cooper is far better than Watkins.
The former will be a unrestricted free agent after this coming season, but the likelihood of the Cowboys allowing him to hit the free market — and after giving up a first-round pick to land him in the first place — is virtually nil. Instead, as the going rate for a No. 1 wideout creeps toward the $20 million mark, thanks to what will soon land for Thomas and Jones, Cooper has no worries.
For him, it's all about staying focused on football and letting the rest take care of itself, as it's about to.
"That is why I am not worried about it," he said. "I feel like they are active about [the discussions]. They want to get it done. ...The market has gone up.
"I am happy about that. I feel we are in a good place. I feel blessed."
Amari Cooper knows his payday is coming.
With that level of comfort, it's no wonder the last thing on his mind right now is what his next NFL contract will pay him. Coming off of a third pro bowl season wherein he also reeled in more than 1,000 yards for the third time in his four-year career, Cooper is one of the next Dallas Cowboys' cornerstone players to land a top-dollar contract extension. It works in the club's favor that the 24-year-old not only wants to remain in North Texas beyond 2019, but he's as cool as the underside of the pillow when asked how talks are going — fully confident in how the Cowboys see his value going forward.
"I'm more focused on actually playing and really earning the respect, and then the contract," Cooper said, via Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I really don't think much about it. I feel like we have time."
For now, at least, the once active talks between him and the Cowboys have hit a wall. There hasn't been any progress lately, a point confirmed by Cooper himself from minicamp — when he made it clear he hasn't spoken to his agent as of late — but the organization isn't necessarily concerned about the lack of progress just yet.
The key words here are, however, "just yet".
The Cowboys are no stranger to the waxing and waning of negotiation and they remain confident they'll ultimately secure Cooper for the future, but nothing is imminent at the moment.
The only problem there comes from outside of the organization, by way of wideouts Michael Thomas and Julio Jones. Deals are seemingly soon to land on both before training camps fire up in July, with the New Orleans Saints being comfortable with the idea of making Thomas the highest paid WR in the NFL. That will only occur if the Atlanta Falcons first reset the market with Jones to allow Thomas a chance to hurdle it, because if Thomas gets his money first then it'll be Jones likely walking away with the crown. In the meantime, Cooper is comfortably preparing for the heightened tide that will follow those deals, because it'll drive his market value that much higher without him lifting a finger.
Even if Cooper doesn't surpass both financially, his fate is still attached to their hot air balloon(s).
Much like the impact the Carson Wentz extension is having on talks with quarterback Dak Prescott, at the end of the day, the market always wins for cornerstone players.
It puts the Cowboys in a bit of a tenuous position, however, because while they try to get the deal on Prescott done before one additional QB complicates things that much more — namely Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams — they must contend with two other market setters in the WR market. This means whereas Prescott took the lead as the player most likely to land the next Cowboys' megadeal following the five-year, $105 million extension on defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, it appears to be Cooper taking the inside corner for the lead.
Playing the odds a bit here, there's a better chance of both Thomas and Jones pushing the market higher for Cooper prior to training camp than it is to assume Goff will garner a new deal and achieve the same for Prescott in that same timeframe.
The way things are going, it'd behoove the Cowboys to re-engage with Cooper quickly with the hopes he'd listen prior to the market shift, although that's not guaranteed either. Like Prescott, he has no incentive to rush things but lots of reasons to hold off a few more weeks, when he can command a higher price. His agent is also not naive to the fact the Cowboys are as far from salary cap hell as they've been in recent memory, with owner Jerry Jones himself proclaiming money is "never the issue", along with the fact they offered Sammy Watkins around $16 million per season just over a calendar year ago.
Spoiler alert: Cooper is far better than Watkins.
The former will be a unrestricted free agent after this coming season, but the likelihood of the Cowboys allowing him to hit the free market — and after giving up a first-round pick to land him in the first place — is virtually nil. Instead, as the going rate for a No. 1 wideout creeps toward the $20 million mark, thanks to what will soon land for Thomas and Jones, Cooper has no worries.
For him, it's all about staying focused on football and letting the rest take care of itself, as it's about to.
"That is why I am not worried about it," he said. "I feel like they are active about [the discussions]. They want to get it done. ...The market has gone up.
"I am happy about that. I feel we are in a good place. I feel blessed."
