The most wonderful time of the year is upon us, a time where every fan sits around and we do mock drafts, we fight over what Free Agent our team will sign. We do crazy fan things like plead on social media for a certain player to come to our team like we really matter in the cause. Almost like we can pay the player straight from our bank account. During our 9-5 we’re normal humans, but when we punch that time card and we jump on social media, the fan in all of us comes out.
I wanna single out one player that every team could use, a player that could potentially turn a mediocre team into a playoff team, playoff team into a contender. Let’s venture down the rabbit hole of Amari Cooper, will he or won’t he leave. The Dallas Cowboys sent a 1st rounder to the now Las Vegas Raiders to acquire him, so the top priority this offseason should be making sure he doesn’t leave the building. Jerry Jones is all about his guys and making sure he keeps his core together, but with the coaching change does Cooper want to stick around and figure it out with the group or does he want to test his value on the market? I want to explore a world where Cooper goes on a trip and visits a couple of different teams and who should be reaching out immediately to Coopers agent to gage his interest?
- Chicago Bears: Ryan Pace would be dumb not to double down on his draft pick Mitchell Trubisky. Pace came out recently and said that Trubisky was the quarterback going into the 2020 season. Last offseason he did what he was supposed to do he went out and got some weapons for his third year quarterback. It ended as a terrible year for the Bears it seemed they regressed in many ways after reaching the postseason last year. Pace is on his last leg as a GM, trading away a lot of picks to grab Khalil Mack, which was warranted. However Pace has been known to throw huge contracts at players like Trey Burton who came over in the 2019 offseason after winning the Super Bowl with Philadelphia and ended up on Injured Reserve the whole year. I’m not blaming Pace for injuries to his team I am blaming him for not having solid depth across the whole roster. Pace should kick the tires for sure on Cooper, a sure handed receiver might help out Trubisky finally take that step and become a Franchise Leader that he was drafted to be.
- Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers is on the back nine of his career and many sports writers and media personnel are debating whether he can win another Super Bowl before he retires. Here’s the thing, Rodgers needs help so bad it hurts, he has a couple of really awesome weapons like Davante Adams and Aaron Jones, and while Allen Lazard might turn into a sure handed receiver why not do what Green Bay never does and grab a sure thing in Cooper. Imagine Cooper catching those amazing “holy crap” throws that Rodgers makes. Adams and Cooper are both true number one receivers, and in Green Bay they can be receiver 1a and 1b. The major issues in Green Bay aren’t on offense they’re on that terrible run defense. Do I think that Green Bay will throw the bag at Cooper? I don’t but they one hundred percent should listen to this amateur blog writer and bring him in on a visit.
- Philadelphia Eagles: Name one receiver on the Eagles not named Alshon Jefferys? Carson Wentz threw more passes to Tight Ends and Running Backs then any other quarterback this year. At the end of the year Wentz was throwing to Greg Ward Jr. Do you know who that is? He was a quarterback in college, he switched positions in the NFL and was cut by the Eagles four times before he got the call to the active roster. Jeff Lurie help Wentz out for goodness sake. Bring Cooper in for a visit and don’t let him leave. Wentz can be an amazing quarterback if you invest in the skill positions. Losing out on signing Cooper long term would hurt the Cowboys but the Eagles signing him long term and then tearing up the league with him would burn Jerry Jones up so bad he might have to fire his son as Assistant GM.
- San Francisco 49ers: Kyle Shanahan wants weapons and would love to have a dominant receiver to play around with in Cooper. Shanahan is on his way to coaching in his second Super Bowl and while he doesn’t need Cooper to succeed in the Bay having a legit number one receiver to terrorize the NFC with would make any coach smile. In the NFC Championship game all San Fran had to do was run the ball to win, but imagine having Cooper and George Kittle line up together. If and when San Francisco wins the Super Bowl and the dust and confetti settles Shanahan should call Cooper and ask if he wants to be part of the Repeat in year two.
- Buffalo Bills: The most obvious choice is Western New York, after the Thanksgiving beat down the Bills laid on Dallas it should have opened Coopers eyes and he should be thinking about joining an up and coming team. Josh Allen took major strides in year two with Cole Beasley and John Brown, and while I think the Bills draft Tee Higgins or Laviska Shenault Jr. adding a dominant receiver in free agency like Cooper and having Higgins or Shenault Jr sit and learn from three pros would be the best case scenario. Also the Bills have the third most cap space this upcoming offseason the Bills can afford him and should definitely try to sign him long term to help insure the growth of Josh Allen.