The Cowboys shipped wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Browns early this offseason in a trade that helped their financial situation, but left a hole in the offense.
Cooper caught 292 passes for 3,893 yards and 27 touchdowns in 56 games for the Cowboys after joining the team in a 2018 trade with the Raiders. The team re-signed Michael Gallup and added James Washington to a receiving corps fronted by CeeDee Lamb and tight end Dalton Schultz said on Monday that players inside or outside of that group are going to have to up their games in order to replace the lost production.
“We’re a better offense with [Cooper],” Schultz said, via Todd Archer of ESPN.com. “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.”
Schultz had 78 catches last year, so he’ll likely be part of the solution and the Cowboys could add a rookie to the mix at the draft later this month as well, so there are multiple ways that the Cowboys can move forward without Cooper. Picking the right ones will be crucial to their hopes of returning to the playoffs.
