DALLAS — Might the Dallas Cowboys start the 2022 NFL season without one of their top offensive options? It's sure looking that way.
Citing multiple league sources, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the Cowboys are "likely" to release star wide receiver Amari Cooper before the start of the new league year, which begins March 20.
Heading into his eighth season in the league, Cooper is set to make $20 million in a base 2022 salary that will be fully guaranteed by March 20. That's the same salary he earned in 2021, which made him one of the highest-paid receivers in the league.
If the Cowboys release Cooper before that March 20 date, the team would save $16 million in cap space for the coming NFL season.
By releasing Cooper, the Cowboys will likely be committing to giving 25-year-old wide receiver Michael Gallup a long-term deal, reports Yahoo NFL reporter Charles Robinson.
The 27-year-old Cooper is coming off a season in which he finished with 68 catches for 865 receiving yards to go along with eight touchdowns.
In the team's 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFC Wild Card Playoffs, the Florida native finished with six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
The fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, Cooper spent his first three seasons with the Oakland Raiders before that team traded him to the Cowboys in the middle of the 2018 season. In exchange, the Cowboys sent the Raiders a 2019 first-round pick that turned into the No. 27 overall selection of safety Johnathan Abram.
Without Cooper, the Cowboys will still have wide receiver CeeDee Lamb under contract. Lamb is entering the third year of a four-year, $14 million deal.
Fellow Cowboys receivers Michael Gallup and Cedric Wilson are both without contracts heading into this offseason.