FRISCO - If you followed Adam Schefter's coverage last week of the Cooper Kupp saga as it relates to the Dallas Cowboys, where it took you was ...
In circles.
So now that the dust has cleared, with Kupp signing with the Seattle Seahawks on a three-year, $45 million deal, ESPN's Schefter is taking another shot at this.
And the reader must feel like somebody is chasing his own tail.
According to a Tuesday report from Schefter, the Cowboys' effort to sign the standout receiver Kupp was so intense that it even included Kupp hearing personal pitches from none other than Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.
That's juicy stuff. The way Schefter tells it ...
"Last Thursday, the Cowboys reached out about Cooper Kupp and they were interested. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, who I understand it, were on the phone with Cooper Kupp talking to him about the idea of coming to Dallas, and it was floated out there."
"Floated'' justifies this being reported, no doubt.
But from the perspective of the Cowboys fan? It suggests a concerted effort on the part of Dallas. ... and we're not sure that is an accurate portrayal of what happened here.
And given Schefter's scatter-shooting coverage of what was happening on Friday, in real time?
We're not sure Adam's sure of much of anything here.
Schefter's reporting had never connected the Cowboys to Kupp in any way ... until very early Friday, when despite an army of reputable outlets were saying Dallas was "not in the mix'' - we were told by a Cowboys source to be "skeptical'' of a signing - Schefter offered up a "scoop.''
At 6:10 a.m. - with one person close to the situation telling me "Adam is covering is (expletive) as he was seemingly responding to the rumors - he tweeted that Dallas is a "sleeper'' team.
That was not true.
Four minutes later, at 6:14, now scrambling, he went the other direction, reporting that Dallas is "not considered'' the Kupp landing spot. ... though he insisted the Cowboys "made a push.''
And of course, eventually, he (and rest of the national media) "broke'' the story of Kupp to Seattle.
So ... Schefter went from "zero'' on Kupp-to-Cowboys to "sleeper'' to "push'' to "nah'' ... and then, with a few days to clean it all up, comes up with the Dak-Lamb-Kupp angle.
We're not doubting that Dallas players texted Kupp on Thursday. But the flood of solid reporting all week was mostly about "not in the mix.'' And we're pretty sure Jerry Jones was never planning to outbid a $15 million per year offer.
We're left wondering: Did this info come from Kupp's agent (which would be self-serving, truly)? Was the Dak/Lamb recruiting effort choreographed by Jerry (which would be impressive, actually)? Is it at least in part about somebody's PR spin (which would be typical, undoubtedly)?
The Cowboys need another playmaker on this offense. Prescott and Lamb are free to send some more texts. And if they do so? We'll work to figure out the differences between "in the mix'' and "push'' and "sleeper'' and media CYA.
