Patriots & Dolphins Expected To Have ‘Great Interest’ In Amari Cooper If Released

Jordan Schultz reports that the Patriots and Dolphins are expected to have “great interest” in signing WR Amari Cooper should the Cowboys end up releasing him this offseason.

Schultz notes that Patriots HC Bill Belichick views Cooper as a No. 1 receiver for QB Mac Jones while the Dolphins would like to add a downfield threat to Jaylen Waddle and DeVante Parker.

Last week, Adam Schefter reported that the Cowboys are “likely” to release Cooper by the start of the new league year on March 16.

Cooper is due $20 million in fully guaranteed money on the fifth day of the new league year and considering the Cowboys’ salary cap situation, releasing the veteran receiver for cap savings made some sense.

Releasing Cooper will result in $16 million of cap savings for the Cowboys while creating $6 million of dead money for the 2022 season. 

Cooper’s name has come up as a potential trade candidate this offseason, but given the cap hit teams would incur for him in a deal, it made more sense for them to wait to see if the Cowboys would just release him outright. 

Cooper, 27, is a former No. 4 overall pick by the Raiders out of Alabama in the 2015 NFL Draft. The Raiders traded him to the Cowboys for a first-round pick midway through the 2018 season.

Cooper played out the final year of his four-year, $22.7 million contract, as well as his fifth-year option which cost Dallas $13,924,000 for 2019. He was set to be an unrestricted free agent when he signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Cowboys in 2020. 

Cooper is set to make a base salary of $20 million in 2022. 

In 2021, Cooper appeared in 15 games for the Cowboys and caught 68 passes for 865 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.

We’ll have more regarding Cooper as the news is available.