NFL rumors: Ex-Raider Amari Cooper has 'shockingly high' contract demands originally appeared on nbcsportsbayarea.com Amari Cooper fit the logo on his helmet after being traded from the Raiders to the Cowboys last season. The wide receiver simply turned into a star in Dallas. The 2015 first-round draft pick hauled in 53 receptions for 725 yards and six touchdowns in nine games with the Cowboys. He even added 13 receptions and a touchdown in two playoff games. Through six games as a Raider in 2018, he was a completely different player. Cooper only had 22 receptions for 280 yards and one touchdown for the Silver and Black last year. Sometimes a change of scenery is all a player needs, but a hefty bank account helps, too. To remain with the Cowboys when he becomes a free agent after the 2019 season, Cooper's contract demands have been "deemed shockingly high," Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort-Worth Star Telegram reported on Tuesday. Hill also states the Cowboys recognize the floor of Cooper's contract should be at least $16 million per season. This begs the question, would you rather pay Amari Cooper the big bucks or shell out for new Raiders receiver Antonio Brown? The Raiders acquired Brown from the Steelers in March for a 2019 third-round draft pick and a 2019 fifth-round pick. They also immediately gave Brown, who turns 31 in July, a new three-year contract worth more than $50 million. While he's now in his 30s, there's a strong argument that Brown has been the best wide receiver in football for the past six seasons. Since 2013, he has 686 receptions for 9,145 yards and 67 touchdowns. Brown's also made six straight Pro Bowls and was named a first-team All-Pro four times in the last six years. Cooper, six years younger than Brown, has been highly inconsistent throughout his career. He's shown his star power with both the Raiders and Cowboys now, but is yet to establish himself as a top pass-catcher in the league. But with his age and natural talent, that could happen sooner rather than later. Story continues [RELATED: Brown, Carr building rapport in Raiders' offseason program] The Raiders turned Cooper into the No. 27 pick in this year's draft, which they used on safety Johnathan Abram. They also completely overhauled their receiving corps with Brown and Tyrell Williams, among others. Negotiations between Cooper and the Cowboys will be worth watching for Raiders fans, especially if Brown and quarterback Derek Carr find an instant connection this season.<doc-sep>The Cowboys front office might not get much of a break this offseason and that's because it's got two big contract extensions it's hoping to get hammered out before the start of the 2019 season. Those extensions are with Amari Cooper and Dak Prescott, and apparently, one negotiation is going much better than the other one. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, negotiations with Cooper have gotten off to a slow start because the receiver's demands were "deemed shockingly high" by the team, which is saying a lot, because it appears the Cowboys went into negotiations expecting to pay Cooper at least $16 million per season in his new deal. As things currently stand, Cooper is headed into the option year of his rookie deal, which is scheduled to pay him $13.9 million in 2019. If $16 million per year isn't good enough for Cooper, it's possible that he wants Odell Beckham-level money. Beckham's contract pays him an average of $18 million per season, which is the highest number in the NFL by far, as no other receiver is even making $17 million per year. If Cooper ends up getting $16.8 million per season, that would make him the second-highest paid receiver as far as average annual salary, but if he has "shockingly high" demands, it might mean he's hoping to shoot past that number. As for Prescott, it seems negotiations are going a little bit better on that front. For one, it sounds like the Cowboys are expecting to give him at least $30 million per year, according to the Star-Telegram. If that happens, Prescott would join an exclusive club of quarterbacks at the $30 million per year mark that includes only Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked about negotiations with Prescott on Monday and he sounded pretty optimistic that a deal would get done soon. "I'm confident we'll get this done. We're sold on Dak," Jones said on The Rich Eisen Show. "We do want to have him for the long term. We think he's worthy of investing in for the long term. He's going into his fourth year now in the NFL. When you look at the snaps he's had, when you look at the the situations he's been in. When you look at, first of all, how he got here and you see, really, how he's performed. We see real upside in Dak." Whatever Prescott ends up getting, it will be a huge raise. As a fourth-round pick, Prescott has made a total of only $1.62 million through the first three seasons of his career (Just to be clear, that's all three seasons combined). Although he's scheduled to make $2.025 million in 2019 as part of the final year of his contract, it's nowhere near the $30 million he could be getting if the two sides work out an extension. The reason Jones is more than happy to write a huge check to Prescott is because the Cowboys owner feels that his quarterback hasn't even begun to scratch the surface of his talent. "You don't have it all yet," Jones said. "We love the way that he, I'm going to use the word 'logically progresses' through a game. You see when the going gets tough or you see when he's got to come from behind, when he kind of turns it loose a little bit, you see him make those plays. All of those things embolden me to make a deal with him that puts him here for the long term." The Cowboys front office has definitely been busy when it comes to contract negotiations. The Cowboys have already hammered out one extension this offseason (Demarcus Lawrence) and even if they get a deal done with Cooper and Prescott, they won't really get a break. After the 2019 season, the team will need to work out an extension with Ezekiel Elliott, who has a contract that's set to expire after the 2020 season.<doc-sep>FRISCO - It's a juicy and troublesome story that suggests big problems in the contract extension talks between Amari Cooper and the Dallas Cowboys. The juicy and troublesome story: That the receiver's "contract demands were deemed shockingly high'' by the Cowboys. But the truth is far less juicy and far less troublesome. The Cowboys are not at all shocked by Cooper's contract proposal. And why not? "Because,'' said a source close to the negotiations, "the Cowboys have not yet received a contract proposal from Amari Cooper.'' Oh. A second source close to the negotiations tells me that Cooper's side is aware that Dallas COO Stephen Jones and company are open to continuing the conversations in a way that would lock up the Pro Bowler under the terms of a long-term deal that will lessen his present cap impact (he's in the final year of a contract that he brings over from having been traded by the Raiders last October that presently counts $13.9 million). But the details of such a deal are still left entirely to educated-guesswork. We've talked a lot about a deal that might pay $16 million annually. We do so in part because a year ago, Dallas made a free-agent bid on Sammy Watkins -- a lesser player than Cooper -- and offered $16 mil a year. We also do so because the ceiling on NFL receiver pay is right above that. Antonio Brown's deal in Oakland averages $16.7 million; that would be the number to beat, unless it is Cooper's desire to surpass the Browns' deal with Odell Beckham. Beckham's contract pays him an average of $18 million per season. We can argue: If Cooper was to ask $18 million a year, would that be "shockingly high''? Or would be a sensibly lofty goal? But those are moot points -- because Cooper hasn't "demanded'' he be paid like Beckham and he hasn't "demanded'' he be paid like Brown. He's not demanded those things because he's not demanded anything. One involved source, reflecting on the mistaken report, grumbled, "Why is there no (journalistic) accountability here?'' It's a similar complaint as the one that emerged during the team's eventually-successful negotiations with DeMarcus Lawrence, during which one media outlet reported a Tank "contract demand'' that was actually $1 million per year higher than anything that was ever discussed between agent David Canter and the Cowboys. Those involved tell me that screw-up temporarily gummed-up the works in those talks. Cowboys Nation obviously hopes that doesn't happen again here. At least there is certainly a sense of shared confidence here. “I really don’t think about it much,'' Cooper said recently. "I feel like we have time. … I feel like they’re active about it and they want to get it done.” And Stephen? He said on Wednesday that talks with Prescott and Cooper are "off and running,'' and added, “I feel very good that we’re going to strategically work through getting guys like Dak and Amari and Zeke done. And I think we can still do others.” But the Cowboys can't get Amari Cooper done, obviously, until they agree on a contract. And they can't agree on a contract until Amari Cooper's side submits a contract proposal. And there is no "shockingly high'' proposal from him because there is, to this moment, no proposal at all.<doc-sep>
The Dallas Cowboys have hopes of paying quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper before the season begins, but that task has recently become more difficult. Interestingly enough, the holdup isn't with the quarterback. At this point in the early negotiations, Prescott is in line to get around $30 million per year in his new deal. This is a large number that would rank among the NFL's best with Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, and Russell Wilson. Quite the hefty payday for the quarterback of America's Team, but owner Jerry Jones is not worried about the cost. "I think that we are sold on Dak," Jones said during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show on Monday. "And I think that we do want to have him for the long term. I think he's worthy of investing in for the long term." Cooper's contract negotiations, on the other hand, have not proceeded exactly as planned. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the receiver's contract demands have been "shockingly high." While the unnamed source from the report didn't provide the number that Cooper has been asking for, which was deemed to be shockingly high, the belief is that the Cowboys are willing to pay the former Raiders receiver at least $16 million per year. This would place him in the same category with Sammy Watkins ($16 million), Adam Thielen ($16.05 million), Brandin Cooks ($16.2 million), DeAndre Hopkins ($16.2 million), and Mike Evans ($16.5 million). The top two receivers in the NFL in terms of salary are Antonio Brown ($16.7 million) and Odell Beckham Jr. ($18 million). Entering 2019, Cooper is set to earn $13.9 million on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. This salary sits at 14th overall, just behind Chicago's Allen Robinson ($14 million). It's easy to say that the Cowboys dynamic receiver is worth this money considering how much he meant to the offense during a surprising turnaround that resulted in a playoff appearance and victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Cooper caught just 22 balls for 280 yards and one touchdown in his first six games with the Raiders this season. His production was inconsistent, mostly due to the changing offensive scheme under new head coach Jon Gruden, as well as a lack of opportunities. He had two 100-yard games, but one week he would have 10 receptions and the next he would have just one. Cooper finally found a team that's determined to get him the ball, and he helped the Cowboys win seven of their last eight games, win a playoff game and made the Pro Bowl. During this stretch of games, Cooper paired with Prescott on a regular basis, bringing in key receptions whenever needed. He tallied 53 receptions for 725 yards, bringing his season total to 1,005. He also scored another six touchdowns, including three in a wild week 14 overtime victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. The former Raiders wide receiver was unstoppable as he topped 200 yards on the day and brought in the game-winning touchdown. As this game against the Eagles showed, Cooper has the factor that every high-priced receiver needs to earn that paycheck. He can take over a game. If you look at the list of players making more money than the Cowboys receiver, the majority has shown the ability to put a team on their back and achieve that hard-fought victory. Although Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks haven't quite reached that point in their careers just yet. Brown and Hopkins, however, are game-breaking receivers that can produce even when being covered by multiple defensive backs. If Cooper wants similar money, he will have to continue producing at an elite level to both earn the new payday as well as justify it to the critics.