Philadelphia Eagles: No Amari Cooper, no problem

Ah, Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Amari Cooper, we never knew ye… literally.

When news broke that the Dallas Cowboys could opt to release Cooper if he wasn’t traded first, the move just screamed “Howie Roseman” to me. With a massive cap hit of $20 million in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and a concerted desire to get off of money to retain Cedrick Wilson and Michael Gallup, the trade market for Cooper’s services appeared rather unlikely, especially with no guaranteed money left on his contract.

Assuming Cooper was released outright, he would instantly become one of the top targets in a rapidly contracting wide receiver free agent market and would be able to select the next team who would pay him $16-20 million a year moving forward. Even if his 2021 season was a “down year,” at 28, the Miami, Florida native remains one of the more complete receivers in the NFL and would have been an asset on any team across the NFL, especially an NFC East team looking to ensure Dallas doesn’t win a second-straight division pennant.

Would the Philadelphia Eagles have gotten in on that action? Potentially so; they reportedly had a deal in place for Calvin Ridley before he was suspended and will likely invest heavily in the wide receiver spot in one way or another this spring. But now, the team’s proverbial eyes will have to look elsewhere for pass-catching help for Jalen Hurts and company, as the Cleveland Browns just took Amari Cooper off the market before he could even hit it.

Expect an inflated wide receiver free agent market, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Supply and demand at its core is a simple concept; If the supply is greater than the demand for an item, the price goes down to facilitate intrigue. If, however, demand is higher than supply, folks are willing to pay more to ensure they get what they want.

If, for example, there are eight legitimate top-tier wide receivers on the free agent market and only six teams are looking to buy, a savvy GM can play the market and walk away with a steal of a deal, either via a buy-low one-year deal, or a long-term contract that is strategically negotiated to have an artificially low first-year cap hit.

Going into 2022’s free agency period, the wide receiver market looked robust. There were options of all shapes, sizes, ages, and expertise and the chances of securing a deal looked better than in years past. Factor in the potential releases of players like Amari Cooper and Jarvis Landry, and it wasn’t so much if Howie Roseman would land the Philadelphia Eagles a new wide receiver, but which player would it be and how much money would the team have left to sign some more complementary pieces.

Slowly but surely, that market started to disappear.

First came the franchise tags. Before free agency could even open up, Davante Adams and Chris Godwin were removed from the proverbial board on one-year deals, and Mike Williams parlayed the threat of the franchise tag to a three-year, $60 million deal. Then came extensions signed by low-tier receivers like Josh Reynolds, Chris Conley, and Josh Gordon to remain with their current teams. Factor in injured players like Odell Beckham Jr., who are unlikely to make much of an impact in 2022 and, by my humble estimation, there are three “premier” wide receivers left on the market who will draw massive attention – and money – when the market opens up in Allen Robinson, D.J. Chark, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, with an intriguing second-tier of players like Will Fuller, A.J. Green, Zach Pascal, and Christian Kirk – among others – forming an intriguing middle class.

Because more than three teams are looking for wide receiver help, that means some of those second-tier players will earn inflated contracts versus the initial estimation and will make it a lot harder to land a fantastic deal unless a player is able to punch above their weight class.

Would Amari Cooper have been a good get for the Philadelphia Eagles? In my humble opinion, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. I don’t particularly care what his yards-per-catch was in 2021; his game is proven, he’s early in his prime, and his status as an Alabama alumni would surely bode well with DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts. But missing out on him is far than a worst-case scenario, especially when a deal would both enrich the Dallas Cowboys and commit just a bit too much money to a number 2 wide receiver. No, unless the Eagles play the market poorly and the draft breaks in a disadvantageous way, they should still enter camp with an upgrade at wide receiver, which is all that really matters.