Many Dallas Cowboys fans blanched at the first-round price it cost to pry Amari Cooper away from the Oakland Raiders.
Speaking Tuesday on 103.5 The Fan in Dallas, coach Jason Garrett defended paying such a high price for a receiver who is amid another struggling season.
"That's what a player like him costs you," Garrett said, via NFL Network's Jane Slater.
The decision to part ways with such a high draft pick -- and the financial advantage that comes with it -- is questionable. Cooper's recent struggles and the cost-increase next year add more layer of haze to the equation.
Will the wideout return to his early-career success, in which he generated two 1,000-plus yard seasons and two Pro Bowl appearances? Or will the issues of the past two seasons continue to plague the former No. 4 overall pick?
"We just feel he's a really good player. He was a top five pick coming out of Alabama a few years ago," Garrett said Tuesday afternoon during his press conference. "By all accounts from everybody we know at Alabama, one of the best players they've had there, one of the best people they've had there.... Goes to Oakland, is very productive early on in his career. So the combination of his physical ability, his production at this level and the kind of guy he is at a position we feel like we need to add some firepower. He's 24 years old, has a bright future, goes about it the right way and it feels like he fits into our culture of our team; the kind of guys we want to have, the cornerstone players we build here over the last few years."
Garrett added that he expects Cooper to arrive Tuesday afternoon and partake in practices on Wednesday and Thursday before the Cowboys break for their bye week. The pre-bye practice should help Cooper with his transition to the new offense.
After spending the offseason ignoring big-name receiver additions, the Cowboys finally made a move for a star name. Whether Cooper can return to form and help open the Dallas offense remains to be seen.
