Browns Predicted to Cut Ties with $100 Million Star

Before the trade deadline, the Cleveland Browns looked for a wide receiver who could make a big impact, but they could have to part ways with one come offseason.

For the past two seasons, Amari Cooper has been the team’s greatest passing option. However, Cleveland’s budget may be too tight due to Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed $230 million contract; a nearly $24 million salary cap charge in 2024 may be too much.

On Friday, November 3, ESPN’s Dan Graziano made a prediction, stating that the Browns may cut or trade Cooper in the summer of 2013 in order to save as much as $20 million the following year.

Though none of Cooper’s projected $20 million compensation in 2024 is guaranteed, Graziano stated that Cooper’s contract is valid through that year. “When the Browns acquired him in March 2022, they renegotiated the contract, so if they decide to cut him the following spring, they will have some dead money. However, if they traded or released him, they would also save $12.5 million on the cap for the next season, and if they made him a post-June 1 cut, they would save $20 million.

Browns Can Afford to Keep Amari Cooper by Extending Him

Behind the thought of cutting or trading Cooper resides the notion of replacing him with another upper-echelon wideout. At the moment, however, Cleveland doesn’t have one of those.

Consequently, the Browns may determine that extending Cooper makes more sense. By doing this, the organization will be able to defer some of the bigger cap costs till later in the season and turn a sizeable portion of the wide receiver’s salary into a bonus.

Browns Can Pursue Replacement for Amari Cooper in Free Agency

The Browns may still cut or trade Cooper and use the same cap reasoning to sign a free agent in the spring if they determine he will be too expensive or that investing in him at his age (29) poses too much of a risk.

Wide receivers Calvin Ridley of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals are among the players expected to be available in the March 2024 free agency class. Over the following few months, as teams extend playmakers, the list of available players may—and most likely will—change to some extent.

But a few good names will undoubtedly hit the market, and if the Browns decide to break up with Cooper, they might go after at least one of them. The Cleveland wideouts’ depth chart now features rookie Cedric Tillman and veteran Elijah Moore as the Nos. 2 and 3 options after the team dealt Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions earlier in the week in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round selection pick.