The Dallas Cowboys at one time had arguably the best three-headed monster at wide receiver in the NFL with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb. Unfortunately, the Cowboys decided to part ways with Cooper last March, trading him to the Cleveland Browns for a late-round pick.

The Cowboys put their faith going forward in Gallup coming off of an ACL tear and looked to the NFL draft to find another weapon in the passing game. Dallas took Jalen Tolbert in the third round. Tolbert's impact was minimal, to say the least, with just 89 snaps and hauling in two receptions for 12 yards in his rookie campaign.

This highlighted how much of a head-scratching move it was by the Cowboys' front office to move on from Cooper. However, team owner Jerry Jones isn't backing off of that decision.

“You could say that we probably had too much reliance on what Tolbert could do because we were high on him coming out,” said Jones at the Senior Bowl. “We thought he could immediately be a factor. We thought possibly we could have better results relative to Gallup as far as his rehab and where he is. I can say that.

“The other parts of it, the elephant in the room that you’re talking about was when I look at the salary that was involved there, over $20 million a year. I look at what we got with that salary to help this team that we wouldn’t have been able to have on this team, had we kept it. I like what we did.”

Jones's statement about Tolbert makes total sense, but not what he said about Cooper.

The Cowboys needed to do some finagling of the salary cap before the 2022 season. Yes, Cooper was set to make $20 million in 2022. However, restructuring Cooper's deal could have saved the Cowboys close to $13 million in cap space, so again, moving on for Cooper and getting a Pepsi and a bag of Doritos for him wasn't smart by any means.

Lamb ended up having a breakout season in 2022 with 107 receptions for 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns, solidifying his status as a true No. 1 receiver. But the thing is, the Cowboys could have easily had two if Cooper was still on the roster which would have easily made up for what Gallup didn't bring as he tries to get back to the player he once was.

What's done is done, and Tolbert may end up being a contributor for the Cowboys in 2023. The bottom line is that the Cowboys didn't have to part ways with Cooper, and it created an unnecessary void.

Feature image via Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports