The Cowboys’ receiving corps looks different than it did last season.
The Cowboys traded Amari Cooper to Cleveland. They wanted to keep Cedrick Wilson, but he left in free agency for the Dolphins. They retained Michael Gallup and signed free agent James Washington.
“This is the hardest part of the league to me, watching teammates, watching friends, watching men you’ve grown with over the past few years, on the field and off the field, leave,’’ Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Monday, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. “I’m excited for them, their next chapters. They’ll do great things.
“And I’m excited for this team.’’
Cooper was the league’s highest-paid receiver in 2021 with a $20 million base salary and a $22 million cap number. Yet, CeeDee Lamb was the Cowboys’ leading receiver.
That played into the Cowboys’ thinking with Cooper.
“Look at his trajectory,’’ Cowboys coach McCarthy told Moore this weekend. “Look at what he’s done from year one to year two. Now, he’ll have to take another step. It will be a different step for him because there will be more attention on him. He’ll be more of a focal point for the defense. But with that greater responsibility will come more opportunities for him to improve even more.’’
Lamb caught 74 passes for 935 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie and followed with 79 receptions for 1,102 yards and six touchdowns last season.
He will play more flanker this season with less time in the slot with Cooper now in Cleveland.
“Yeah, there’s no doubt he is (ready to replace Cooper as the team’s No. 1 receiver),’’ Prescott said. “I think that’s the best part of that move. You look at a guy like CeeDee and what he’s done in his first two years, it’s exciting. He hasn’t really scratched the surface. Just for him to be the one, to be the main guy, I know he’s going to be ready for it.
“I know he’s already doing the things he needs to do that are necessary to have a great season.’’
