With the Browns sitting at 1-4 on the year, it would not come as a surprise if the team looked to deal one or more veterans ahead of the trade deadline. Receiver Amari Cooper does not expect to be among them, though.
“I’m not thinking about that,” the pending free agent said about a trade (via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com). “I’m not thinking about us not winning some games. I’m thinking about us winning some games. So that doesn’t even cross my mind.”
Cabot recently detailed the financial reasons why a trade is not feasible in Cooper’s case. As part of his restructure worked out this offseason, the five-time Pro Bowler’s salary was reduced to $1.21M. Absorbing a prorated portion of that figure would be simple for an acquiring team, but a trade would leave the Browns to eat the remainder of Cooper’s bonus while incurring a dead money charge of over $7.5M.
That would make a move a costly one from Cleveland’s perspective. On the other hand, the team’s latest Deshaun Watson restructure has left the team with ample cap space to absorb the dead money, and Watson’s acquisition left the Browns without a first-round pick for three straight years.
Recouping some draft capital via a Cooper offload would offer long-term benefits. It would, though, leave Cleveland without a receiver who delivered on expectations during his first two seasons with the team.
The former first-rounder racked up over 70 catches and 1,100 yards in 2022 and ’23, totaling 14 touchdowns during that span. While Cooper has endured a slow start to the current campaign, the Browns’ offense as a whole has struggled mightily. Watson is not in danger of being benched, which could very well leave Cleveland firmly out of the playoff running closer to the deadline.
In that case, it will be interesting to see how much of a market develops for Cooper amongst contending teams. Davante Adams remains the most high-profile wideout known to be on the market, although the list of teams in position to acquire him has shrunk.
Other receivers like Christian Kirk, DeAndre Hopkins and Diontae Johnson could find themselves as targets, particularly if the Browns elect to retain Cooper for the rest of 2024.
