Riley Cooper saw his NFL stock increase last season after he displayed solid chemistry with quarterback Nick Foles and helped lead the team with Jeremy Maclin injured. The Philadelphia Eagles signed the wide receiver to a solid long-term contract in free agency as a result. However, Cooper has yet to live up to the pay increase as his time on the field continues to decrease and he is not thrilled about it.
Cooper has just 425 yards and one touchdown to his name after signing a five-year, $22.5 million contract. He was expected to return as the No. 1 target for Foles. Maclin was coming off a season where he did not play due to a torn ACL and Philadelphia had no idea what kind of receiver he would be in 2014. Maclin signed a one-year contract and is proving he deserves a big pay raise over Cooper who is not thrilled about his role in the offense.
"Maclin's trying to get a contract so he's probably not going to try and come out of the game," Cooper said, via Philly.com. "We want to sub as much as we can. It doesn't matter who it is. Hopefully, Maclin gets this thing done and he'll probably be subbing just as much. We want guys out there every four plays. We we're trying to rotate every four plays. I'll be in for four or five depending on if we're going tempo. Six, seven plays and then Huff goes in for two and then I go back in."
Cooper's role in the offseason has gotten much smaller. In the first five games, the receiver was active on 91 percent of the snaps, while getting reduced to just 76 percent of the snaps in the last six games. His fall has resulted in Maclin's rise as he currently leads the team with 980 yards and nine touchdowns. When informed of Cooper's comments, Maclin was not thrilled. The wide receiver told Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer, "That was not very smart of Coop to say."
Cooper's role has changed drastically with the Eagles. The team is no longer taking as many shots down field so while Cooper may be open, Foles or Mark Sanchez have not taken the shot. Instead, Cooper is doing more blocking, being a key factor on several big runs from LeSean McCoy. The Eagles are also dealing with the rise of rookie Jordan Matthews and tight end Zach Ertz who both rank ahead of Cooper in receiving yards. Fantasy owners who invested in Cooper at the start of the year might want to look elsewhere.
