Jerry Jones has explained Amari Cooper's trade to the Cleveland Browns, claiming the Dallas Cowboys' salary cap could be "better spent" elsewhere.
Cooper signed a five-year, $100million contract extension with the Cowboys in 2020, coming off four Pro Bowl appearances in his first five seasons in the NFL.
But the wide receiver struggled to live up to that salary, which made him the highest-paid player at his position in 2021.
Cooper's $22m accounted for 10.5 per cent of the Cowboys' cap, with only defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence taking up more.
Despite that, Cooper ranked just 30th among receivers for catches (68) and receiving yards (865) and tied 12th for receiving touchdowns (eight).
Heading into 2022, Jones and the Cowboys pondered the merits of committing league-leading money to a player they were targeting with just 104 passes last year – tied for 32nd at his position.
"To be fair, we let Cooper go down the road," Jones explained. "That was our decision.
"That wasn't made to depreciate the team. At the end of the day, it is a financial allocation toward the talent, and you've got to consider availability, and that sometimes departs from the best route runner.
"We had to look hard at the 10 or 11 players who are getting two-thirds of the money. We have to make sure every one those players are pulling as much weight as you can, because of the economic emphasis. That is a big part of what's on the field.
"How much were they there, how many snaps they get, how much production did you get. That is always going to be under scrutiny. It should be."
Ultimately, Jones said, the Cowboys "made a decision that that allocation should be better spent".
Cowboys fans might still have hoped to get more in return for a player for whom they parted with a first-round draft pick – which became safety Johnathan Abram – in a 2018 trade with the then Oakland Raiders.
The Browns sent a fifth-round 2022 selection to Dallas, along with a pick swap in the sixth round.
"We made every effort to do as well as we can do with the trade," Jones said.