Not 'Better': Dalton Schultz Tells Cowboys Truth About Amari Cooper Trade

“We’re a better offense with (Cooper),” Schultz says. “Unfortunately, we don’t have him, and so I think the next step is having guys step up. I think there’s room to grow in a bunch of other aspects of the game.”

FRISCO - Dalton Schultz and this Dallas Cowboys offseason?

He's bigger. They're not better.

Eric Hartline/USA Today

Schultz is sharing positive views of his personal offseason, contractually and otherwise, noting that he's trying to add five pounds of muscle to help him as a blocker.

At the same time, he admits there is something that's not helping.

“We’re a better offense with (Amari Cooper),” Schultz said, acknowledging that Dallas' trade of the No. 1 wide receiver weakens the roster. “Unfortunately, we don’t have him, and so I think the next step is having guys step up. I think there’s room to grow in a bunch of other aspects of the game.” 

That's an optimistic way of looking at things - which mirrors how Schultz is looking at his contract situation.

“I think it’s a good start,” said Schultz in a Monday media visit, his first since being designated as the Cowboys' franchise tagged player earlier this spring. “Obviously this is the place I want to be. I love being here. I love this organization.''

And the Cowboys obviously think highly of him as well, as the 25-year-old was extended a $10.9 million tag that makes him among football's highest-paid players at his position ... though that number can go up or down depending on whether the two sides can forge a long-term agreement by July 15. If a new deal isn't done by then, though, Schultz, the former fourth-round pick who has made himself into a valued weapon in the Dak Prescott-led offense, will play for that total, fully guaranteed.

Schultz has served as the Cowboys' starting tight end for the past two seasons and has enjoyed surprising success. Once upon a time, his close pal Blake Jarwin was seen as the heir to the legendary Jason Witten. But Jarwin's serious hip injury has caused his departure from Dallas, and maybe from the NFL.

Meanwhile, Schultz is coming off a season in which he had 78 catches for over 800 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Cowboys need more help at tight end, and they might find it in the upcoming NFL Draft. (See Jelani Woods' profile here.) But they need Schultz as much as almost anybody now.

"I want to work out a long-term deal and I think they do, too,'' Schultz said. "I hope we can get that done.”

He also hopes Dallas can get something done in the receivers room, where CeeDee Lamb is a potential star ... but where right now, without Cooper, the group has taken a step backward.

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