Cowboys will stay focused on Amari Cooper, have no interest in waived Raiders WR Antonio Brown

Cowboys will stay focused on Amari Cooper, have no interest in waived Raiders WR Antonio Brown

FRISCO - Yes, the Dallas Cowboys have a history of "risk-taking'' when it comes to building a roster. But no, Dallas is not busying itself with a pursuit of the mercurial Antonio Brown.

The Cowboys of course have their hands full with another receiver with ties to the Oakland Raiders. That would be Amari Cooper, who was traded to Dallas last fall by the Raiders in exchange for a first-round pick. Dallas is in negotiations with Cooper, negotiations that aren't exactly happening at a speedy pace, maybe in part because Atlanta just signed receiver Julio Jones to a bar-setting three-year, $66-million extension.

Dallas remains confident that it will eventually find a peaceful middle ground with Cooper, the three-time Pro Bowler. But with Antonio Brown? There is no peace. And there is therefore no interest here.

Brown's antics in both Pittsburgh and now Oakland have set new standards for the concept of the "diva receiver.'' His latest bizarre behavior has included a controversy over his cryotherapy-burned feet, a conflict over his favorite helmet, an off-color exchange with his GM, a public apology, a video in which he seems to have secretly recorded the voice of coach Jon Gruden, and today, on the starting weekend of the NFL, a demand to be released.

Oakland has granted that demand -- along with its erasure of $30 million in agreed-to and since-waived guarantees to the star player.

Dallas would like to take care of Dak Prescott's contract immediately, on the heels of having done so with Ezekiel Elliott. The club would like to do the same with Cooper, but Julio Jones' new almost-all-guaranteed contract complicates that.

“There haven’t been a lot of negotiations with Amari (Cooper), period. And I’m not free to be able to share why,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said this week.

That's mysterious enough ... but not nearly the mystery that Antonio Brown's mindset it. Vegas oddsmakers give Dallas the third-best odds (+600) to sign Brown, behind only the NFC East-rival Washington Redskins (+300) and New England Patriots (+200).

Vegas is going to be as wrong about this as the Raiders were in signing him. And to Antonio Brown's next team? Buyer beware.