This afternoon, new head coach Doug Pederson made his first cut of the roster, as the Philadelphia Eagles released wide receiver Riley Cooper. After being selected by the Eagles in the fifth round of the 2010 draft, and never really amounting to much on the field, Pederson ultimately thought his contract of $25 million over five years just was not in the team’s long-term future.
Cooper received an extension after a breakout 2013 campaign in which he caught 47 receptions for 835 yards, and eight touchdowns. Furthermore, Cooper finished third in the NFL with an average of 17.8 yards per catch, career highs for the former Florida Gator and NCAA standout.
After that standout season it was all down hill from there for Cooper, both on and off the field. In the summer of 2013, Cooper was recorded in what appeared to be an intoxicated state, and uttered a racial slur we dare not repeat. He was attending a country rock concert and allegedly got into an altercation with an African-American security guard. Cooper was immediately dismissed from the team for a few days, but would later rejoin his teammates for training camp.
It only got worse for Cooper, as he got into a heated altercation with former teammate, the outspoken Cary Williams, after a play on a deep ball in which both players became engaged physically. This led to several blows being thrown by Williams. Not sure if this had anything to do with the concert incident, but it was to close for comfort.
During the season Cooper never regained that 2013 spark, and his numbers and role slowly declined. Although he grabbed a career high 55 catches , he did not crack the 600-yard mark for receiving yards.
In 2015, he faltered even more with 21 catches for 321 yards, and just two touchdowns. Next question up for the Eagles is, who exactly is Pederson clearing cap space for?
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