Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns
It seems that Amari Cooper is seeing his name pop up in trade talks, and this bit of news broke which makes the situation even more interesting:
The #Browns converted all but $1.21M of WR Amari Cooper's 2024 salary into signing bonus, making him an extremely affordable trade candidate.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) September 30, 2024
Now: $941,111
Deadline: $605,000
Amari Cooper has been one of the most reliable players in the NFL over the last decade and is 30 years old. He's a former first-round draft pick of the then Oakland Raiders in the 2015 NFL Draft. Across his regular season career, Cooper has caught 683 passes for 9,634 yards and 62 touchdowns. He's got seven 1,000-yard seasons across his career and is on the cusp of hitting 10,000 career yards.
The big concern with Cooper is that he's caught only 43.2% of his targets this year, which is just not ideal. Deshaun Watson is a terrible QB, so perhaps much of that is due to his passer, but Cooper has dropped some passes this year.
You have to assume that the Browns aren't asking for a lot for a 30-year-old wide receiver who is clearly not a long-term piece for this team. If nothing else, Denver should see if they can get Amari Cooper for a late-round pick, as he'd instantly become the Broncos' best and most reliable WR, even with his early struggles in 2024.
You trade for Amari Cooper to help your rookie QB develop. He's not going to be here for the next three years. The point here is to give rookie QB Bo Nix a reliable weapon and someone else that opposing defenses have to watch out for.
The Browns have Broncos have recently made a WR deal before, as Cleveland traded for Jerry Jeudy and proceeded to extend him, so he's there for the long-term. The Browns are in a tough spot with Deshaun Watson. He's not a viable QB, so the Browns may have to get creative to try and re-tool this roster and move on from Watson.
Offloading some veteran contracts could help them start that process.