Cowboys' Amari Cooper Trade? No Regrets, Insists Jerry Jones - Who Reveals Problem

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still stands by the decision to trade away wide receiver Amari Cooper.

Did the Dallas Cowboys make a mistake when trading away former No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns? 

"I like what we did,'' insisted Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, speaking Wednesday at the Senior Bowl.

Many would tell you that the Cowboys messed up by trading Cooper for but a fifth-round pick. But Jones swears he does not share that opinion, even after seeing Cooper put up 1,000 yards as the top receiver in Cleveland ... and even after watching the struggles Dallas had at the position outside of CeeDee Lamb.

CowboysSI.com broke the original story of why Dallas decided to dump Cooper, which had much to do with his $20 million salary but was also about his level of dependable effort. Jones explained on Wednesday the bottom line on why it didn't work out as they thought. 

And he pinpointed the failure of rookie Jalen Tolbert to step in and replicate at least some of Amari's production.

"We probably had too much reliance on (believing) what Tolbert could do because we were high on him coming out and thought he could immediately be a factor," Jones said.

Additionally, he mentioned the rehabbing receiver Michael Gallup.

"We had thought that possibly we could have better results relative to Gallup as far as his rehab,'' Jones said, "so I can say that."

Tolbert, the third-round pick out of South Alabama, recorded just two catches for 12 yards, never carved out a role in the Cowboys offense, only playing in eight games after many hoped he could help fill the void of a down-field threat like Cooper. 

Meanwhile Gallup struggled to find consistency after missing the first four games of the season due to his recovery from his ACL injury, 

But as Jones explained, it was more than just confidence in the players on their roster that made them trade Cooper.

"The other part of it, the elephant in the room, was when I look at the salary involved ... over $20 million a year, and I look at what we got with that salary to help this team that we wouldn't be able to have with this team, had we kept it,'' he said. "I like what we did."

It's true that Dallas used that money to help build a team that went 12-5. But that does leave Cowboys Nation wondering what might have been had the other part of Dallas' Amari equation - that he'd be replaceable - come to fruition.

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