Report: Cowboys Most Likely Will Release Amari Cooper

The wide receiver would be owed $20 million on March 20 if not released.

The Cowboys are likely going to release their second-highest performing wide receiver Amari Cooper this offseason, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Cowboys are “likely” to release WR Amari Copper by the start of the new league year, per league sources.

Cooper is due $20 million in fully guaranteed money on the fifth day of the new league year, March 20.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 4, 2022

The Cowboys would need to release Cooper by March 20, which is the fifth day of the new league year. If not, they owe Cooper $20 million.

Cooper is only in his third year of his five-year, $100 million contract, per Spotrac. The Cowboys are projected to be $21 million over their salary cap, and Cooper’s release would reduce his cap hit for the 2022 season to $6 million.

Coach Mike McCarthy and owner Jerry Jones have not spoken about the possibility of releasing Cooper. 

Earlier this week, though, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones did not give a straight answer on Cooper’s future in Dallas.

“It’s too early for me to address that yet,” Jones said, per ESPN on Monday. “I mean, we’re continuing to have conversations.

“A lot of things affect [Cooper’s status] in terms of obviously we’ve been so fortunate to have those three great receivers on our roster and obviously that’s hard to keep doing under a salary cap,” Jones said. “And certainly [CeeDee Lamb] did a really nice job for us and he’s up. So there’s some moving parts there that we’ll have to continue to massage as we move forward.”

Lamb was Dallas’s top receiver last season, finishing with 79 completions on 120 targets for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns.

Cooper played in 15 games this season, catching 68 of 104 targets for 865 yards and eight touchdowns. He missed two games due to COVID-19.

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