The Dallas Cowboys are finally preparing for a regular-season game after an offseason of practices and four preseason games. The time for real football has arrived, and nearly every member of the roster is at The Star in Frisco, Texas, to get right before playing the New York Giants in a key divisional battle. Unfortunately, “nearly” is the key considering that star running back Ezekiel Elliott is still in Cabo amid a holdout.
The team’s front office and Zeke’s representatives have been discussing a new contract extension, but the negotiations have not been completed just yet. By all reports, the hope is that he will be back in the building for Wednesday’s practice, but not enough progress has been made. For the other players on the roster, this situation could be considered “weird” or as a distraction, but that simply hasn’t been the case for wide receiver Amari Cooper and other members of the offense.
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“It’s not strange just because you understand the situation,” Cooper told reporters on Monday, per USA Today. “We’re adults. We understand this business.”
For Cooper, he is used to these situations, as well as the business aspect of the NFL. In 2018 alone, he started the season as a member of the Oakland Raiders but ended his year with the Dallas Cowboys. Instead of working out a contract extension with the talented wide receiver, head coach Jon Gruden opted to send Cooper to Texas following a trip to London in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Gruden used this pick to select hard-hitting safety Johnathan Abram.
While trading a player away instead of paying them like a superstar isn’t all that rare in the modern NFL, what made the move slightly odd to outsiders is that the Raiders later traded for the aging Antonio Brown and rewarded him with a three-year, $50.125 million deal that included more than $30 million guaranteed. Yes, Brown was coming off a season in which he scored 15 touchdowns, leading the NFL, but he is older than Cooper and has also dealt with myriad off-the-field issues. Giving Brown that payday instead of Cooper just seemed strange to some.
Of course, this was only the second jaw-dropping trade that Cooper witnessed during his brief time with Gruden. The head coach known as “Chucky” sent talented pass rusher and perennial All-Pro Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears mere days before the season in exchange for a bounty of draft picks. Like Cooper, Mack was in line for a mega-contract, but Oakland opted to send him packing.
Considering the moves that Cooper witnessed in 2018 alone, it’s very understandable that he doesn’t find Zeke’s holdout to be all that unusual. He will continue to support his teammate as the star running back searches for a massive contract extension.
