Over the minibye, Cowboys Wire addressed the elephant in the room, how the Dallas Cowboys need to pursue help at the wide receiver position. Through four games, Brandin Cooks has not lived up to expectations, despite QB Dak Prescott currently ranking third in the NFL in passing yardage.
While Jalen Tolbert has shown a sign or two, he hasn’t provided enough evidence to crown him a proper compliment to CeeDee Lamb. That’s why we looked into the potential trades for Amari Cooper and Tee Higgins out of the AFC North, and DeAndre Hopkins out of the AFC South. With full intention to consider Davante Adams within an AFC West look, the Raiders are one step ahead, advertising terms they’d accept in an offer.
Breaking: The Raiders have informed other teams that they would “consider” trading WR Davante Adams for a package that would include a second-round pick and additional compensation, sources tell @AdamSchefter. pic.twitter.com/M7Vm0yXQqp
— ESPN (@espn) October 1, 2024
The Cowboys and Raiders have linked up in similar situations before, most famously when Dallas acquired Cooper in the middle of the 2018 season in exchange for a first-round pick.
The difference there is Cooper was much younger, 24 at the time compared to Adams current age of 32, and was on his rookie contract. Acquiring Adams comes with a heavy price tag as he has $74 million on the books for the 2025 and 2026 season, not to mention 7/9th of his $17 million 2024 salary remaining, about $13 million.
Could the Cowboys afford it? Yes. Cowboys Wire has highlighted that the cap situation for Dallas is well setup for next season, but it might not even come to that.
Those balloon salaries on the books for Oakland were all about achieving a talking point for Adams and his representatives, giving him an inflated annual value that Oakland never truly considered paying.
The money isn’t guaranteed, which means an acquiring team would be able to release Adams after this season and face no financial penalty, only the draft compensation they gave up.
Still, a second rounder for a one-season rental doesn’t seem wise. That’s not the only option though. An acquiring team could restructure Adams deal, add void years and stretch out his 2025 payment across multiple years to soften the initial blow. There are a bunch of accounting tools in place to allow NFL teams to absorb bad contracts and not reap all of the impact right away.
If the Cowboys were serious about contending in 2024, which is still a questionable assumption, then they would be considering adding someone of Adams caliber.
Even with the ridiculous QB situation in Oakland last year, he checked in with 1,144 receiving yards, 103 catches and eight touchdowns. That broke his streak of at least 1,300 receiving yards in three straight seasons. Adams can still play, and putting him opposite Lamb would immediately catapult Dallas’ offense back to the top of the league.
With injuries to Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence weakening an already suspect defense, the Cowboys may need to invest in their offense like never before.
Trading for Adams would certainly qualify.
Cooks production has decreased each week of the season, hauling in just one pass for 16 yards in the club’s Week 4 win in New York over the Giants. For the year, he has just nine receptions for 91 yards, but the bigger problem is that’s come on 19 targets. He and Prescott just aren’t in sync.