Denver Broncos 2020 free agent target: WR Amari Cooper

The Denver Broncos could be aggressive on the free agent wide receiver market and target Dallas Cowboys receiver Amari Cooper.

Although it goes against many personal preferences, the Denver Broncos could utilize free agency to upgrade their wide receiver position as opposed to the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, and there are good reasons for it.

Spending a ton of money on the wide receiver position with such an awesome rookie class coming in seems borderline irresponsible, but wide receiver is one of the toughest for players to transition to from college to the pros.

The Broncos have over $60 million in cap space before making any roster cuts, and even with a chunk of that expected to go to safety Justin Simmons as a franchise player or via extension, there will be opportunities for the Broncos to explore a couple of splash moves among their free agency signings.

One such move could be to sign Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper, whose price tag is going to be very high.

Cooper is just entering his age 26 season and is coming off of the best year of his career statistically with 1,189 receiving yards, eight touchdowns, and a 15.1 yards per reception average.

Cooper’s dropped pass rate is down substantially since joining the Cowboys (9.7 percent with Oakland in 2018, 4.2 percent in 2019) and while that’s still somewhat of a concern, Cooper’s abilities as basically a ‘1A’ type of receiver might be ideal for what the Broncos are presently looking for.

Troy Renck, a Broncos Insider for ABC7 in Denver, threw out Cooper’s name as a possible Broncos target on Twitter.

Spotrac.com projects that Cooper could receive a contract on the free agent market at nearly $20 million per season.

That’s an obscene amount of money to pay a non-quarterback or game-altering defensive player. Especially considering the fact that the Broncos have Courtland Sutton in place, how could they justify a move like this?

The only real way to justify it is to do a shorter contract, perhaps three years so that Cooper could cash in again during his age 29 offseason. He would still be able to make top dollar at that point, or close to it, especially if he continues to establish himself as a big-play threat.

When you watch Cooper play, there’s not much that really stands out about his game overall. He’s just a really solid player at his position. Is he worth the price of the top of the line? Perhaps not, but in a couple of years, whatever deal he signs is going to seem like a bargain.

The price tag is hard to stomach, which is why we haven’t really talked about this option much for the Broncos, but you never know what John Elway and company have up their sleeve and Cooper is certainly a player who could help this offense tremendously.

Considering the Broncos have really no big money invested at the skill positions right now at all, adding a player like Amari Cooper for the next three seasons before re-evaluating and paying guys like Courtland Sutton and hopefully Drew Lock, the Broncos’ situation could simply be far different than we can understand right now.

Given this team’s current context and their draft capital, signing a player like Cooper would give them first-round flexibility to go after a cornerback or offensive lineman potentially, and take advantage of this draft’s wide receiver depth further down the board.

When the Broncos cut quarterback Joe Flacco, their highest offensive cap commitment will be to right tackle Ja’Wuan James ($13 million) followed by tight end Jeff Heuerman ($4.375 million).

Although the team has invested high draft choices in skill players, there’s absolutely no money being spent there right now. While Cooper might not be a Michael Thomas, market-setting type of player at his position, he’s certainly a big-time upgrade over what the Broncos have had and is a young player who has seen the game slow down for him in recent years.

While many fans want the Broncos to go the more fiscally responsible route and just draft a couple of receivers from this insanely talented class, there’s also merit to spending money at an important skill position while they can.

Cooper would be getting a big slice of the pie, but that’s something you can do when you have a young roster like the Broncos do.