Dallas Cowboys News: Dak Prescott Gets Surgery, Amari Cooper’s Future Unclear

The Dallas Cowboys could have a very eventful offseason. There are questions about Dak Prescott’s health, and Amari Cooper isn’t certain to remain with the team for the 2022 NFL season.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy announced Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis that Dak Prescott underwent surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. McCarthy said the quarterback’s injury is not a concern and he isn’t expected to miss any offseason workouts.

"He's one of eight players that had postseason surgery," McCarthy told reporters. "We had to clean up his left shoulder. That's something that had to be done. But he's rehabbing that. He's starting his process to get better."

Prescott has dealt with several injuries over the last 16 months. A fractured ankle limited Prescott to five games in 2020, and he missed a start in 2021 because of a calf strain. A strain in his throwing shoulder kept Prescott sidelined for all of the preseason, but it didn’t appear to affect the 28-year-old in the regular season.

Leading Dallas to an NFC East title, Prescott threw a career-high 37 touchdown passes. Prescott had 4,449 passing yards and a 104.2 passer rating, good for third in the NFL.

Cooper caught 68 of Prescott’s passes for 865 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns. The receiver has a $20 million base salary that becomes fully guaranteed on March 20. Because the Cowboys can save $16 million in cap space by releasing or trading Cooper, Dallas has an important decision to make regarding the veteran.

"It's too early for me to address that yet," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said, via Jori Epstein of USA Today, when asked if Cooper would be on the team next season. "We're continuing to have conversations. A lot of things affect that. There are some moving parts to that that we'll have to continue to massage as we move forward."

Two years ago, Dallas inked Cooper to a five-year, $100 million contract with $60 million in guarantees. In 52 career games with the Cowboys, Cooper has 3,893 receiving yards and 27 touchdowns.

Receiver Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown and Malik Turner are headed for free agency.

The Cowboys finished the regular season ranked first in total offense and points per game. Dallas was upset by the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.