The legal tampering period is officially one week away, and the Indianapolis Colts are likely to be involved in several conversations about where some of the top players on the free-agent market will land—including wide receiver Amari Cooper.
It remains to be seen if Cooper will hit the market but if he does, the Colts have the resources and the need to bring him into the wide receiver room. Most believe Cooper will wind up getting tagged by the Dallas Cowboys, but there’s still a chance he hits the market.
If he does, the majority of the FantasyPros staff believes he will wind up with the Colts.
Cooper will be a high-priced free agent if he hits the market. That won’t be a problem for the Colts if they are willing to pay him WR1 money. However, given the track record we have on Chris Ballard, that is far from a guarantee.
Cooper had the best season of his career with the Cowboys in 2019—his first full campaign in Dallas. He caught 79 passes for 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 15.1 yards per catch. All of those marks, excluding receptions, were the highest of his career.
His second half left much to be desired, but there is an argument that he was dealing with an injury for the majority of that time span. However, consistency has been a concern for Cooper throughout his career. That cannot be dismissed out of hand.
With T.Y. Hilton approaching his age-31 season and no proven commodity behind him, the Colts should have a mindset to be actively pursuing top-end talent. Whether they will actually do so might be a different story.
Cooper has to hit the market for this conversation to hold any relevance but if he does, the Colts shouldn’t be afraid to pursue him heavily.