Getty Head coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns.
The Cleveland Browns have two choices when it comes to star wide receiver Amari Cooper this offseason, cut him or offer him a massive extension.
Considering Cooper’s Pro-Bowl campaign in 2023, it really isn’t actually much of a decision at all. The wideout is set to count nearly $24 million against the salary cap next season in the final year of his $100 million contract. If Cooper hadn’t been excellent over the last six months, he would almost certainly be gone, as the team can save $20 million by cutting or trading him after June 1.
But because he was so good and so consistently critical to the Browns’ offense, he’s near a lock to return to Cleveland in 2024 on an extension that will allow the team to mitigate his cap hit via bonus structures.
“What the Browns can do to lower his cap hit … is to extend him,” Cory Kinnan of USA Today’s Browns Wire wrote on Wednesday, February 7. “Cooper will be 30 next season, however, so the length of extension will be an interesting game to play.”
Kinnan suggested something in the neighborhood of a two-year deal at $23-$24 million annually could be in play for Cooper, given the recent contracts signed by Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs with the Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills, respectively. Cooper and his camp will likely push for a three- or four-year agreement.
“If [the Browns] wanted to extend him for another two years … they can drop his base salary in 2024 to the vet minimum, paying him only his bonuses that do not count against the cap,” Kinnan added. “This move is very much in play this offseason.”
Browns Don’t Intend to Part Ways With Amari Cooper in 2024
GettyWide receiver Amari Cooper of the Cleveland Browns.
Kinnan’s prediction that Cooper will be back on an extension follows reporting from Terry Pluto of Cleveland.com on February 4 that a “top source” inside the league categorically shut down any notion that the team intends to cut or trade the wideout.
“I keep hearing from some fans and media members that the Browns may cut Amari Cooper because of salary cap problems,” Pluto wrote. “I checked with a top NFL source, and the Browns have no intention of letting Amari Cooper leave — I mean, ZERO.”
Cooper made it difficult for Cleveland to justify parting ways after he put up 1,250 yards and 5 TDs on 72 catches across 15 games played last season, per Pro Football Reference. He was far and away the Browns’ best receiver in 2023, despite multiples injuries and five different Browns starting quarterbacks over 17 games.
Browns Expected to Look for Wide Receiver Additions This Offseason
GettyWide receiver Amari Cooper of the Cleveland Browns.
Just bringing Cooper back to play alongside Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku probably won’t be enough for a Cleveland team hoping to contend in 2024 with a presumably healthy Deshaun Watson at quarterback.
Elijah Moore was the second-most successful receiver on the roster last season, with 59 catches for 640 yards and 2 scores. A couple of former third-round picks still playing on their rookie deals in David Bell and Cedric Tillman combined for just 391 yards and 35 receptions, and each finished behind running back Jerome Ford in receiving production across all major categories, per ESPN.
Cleveland faces more work to navigate its salary cap concerns than several of its NFL competitors, but Browns fans should expect movement in the wide receiver room this offseason — be it in the form of cuts, trades, free-agent additions or the draft.