Amari Cooper is confident the Browns will pull out of their 1-4 tailspin, and hasn’t contemplated the Browns trading him if they’re out of contention before the trade deadline Nov. 5.
“I’m not thinking about that,” Cooper said Thursday. “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.”
But the reality of the situation is that their playoff hopes are slipping away, and they’ll likely be willing to trade their five-time Pro Bowl wideout if they’re not making the postseason .
As it stands, the Browns have only a 5.9% chance of making the playoffs at 1-4. Dating back to 1970, 253 teams have started 1-4, and only 15 have made the playoffs. The Commanders were the most recent in 2020, the first year for 14 playoff teams.
No 1-4 team has made the playoffs since the schedule increased to 17 games in 2021, but the Rams made the playoffs last year after starting 3-6 — the 10th team in league history to accomplish the feat.
It’s not over yet for the Browns as they head to Philadelphia on Sunday to face the 2-2 Eagles, but their 2024 playoff aspirations are quickly fading, and Cooper could wind up on the trading block if they’re out of it by Nov. 5. With four more games between now and the deadline, the Browns can go anywhere from 1
If they win a few games and claw their way back into it, they’ll hang onto their WR1 and rely on him heavily the rest of the season. If they’re 1-8 or 2-7 by the trade deadline, they’ll have plenty of reason to trade him and get something in return before his contract expires in March.
The Browns restructured Cooper’s contract at the start of camp, reducing his base salary to $1.21 million and giving him a restructure bonus of $18.79 million to be paid out over the course of the season. It means that the team trading for him would pick up only the remainder of his base salary, which is $67,222 for each remaining game check (1/18 of the $1.21 million). If that happens right at the Nov. 5 deadline, a team would only have to pay him $604,998 for the final nine games, quite the bargain for a five-time Pro Bowler.
By that time, the Browns would only owe him, for all intents and purposes, the final $10 million of his $20 million contract minus the $605,000, and it might be worth it for them to eat the rest of that bonus in exchange for a decent draft pick. During camp, when the Browns pondered trading him to the 49ers, the restructure bonus would’ve been offset by the amount of Brandon Aiyuk’s contract they assumed.
If the Browns could land something similar to what the Bills got in April for receiver Stefon Diggs, they’d almost have to do it. The Bills traded Diggs to the Texans along with a 2024 sixth-round pick (No. 189 overall) and a 2025 fifth-rounder in exchange for a second-round pick in 2025.
The pick would help offset the lost bonus money, and would make sense for the Browns considering they’re likely to let Cooper walk in free agency after the season. If the Browns miss the playoffs, which seems increasingly likely, they’ll need to restock the roster for next season, and the extra picks would help.
Cooper’s name has already been mentioned in connection with the Chiefs, who are seeking to replace injured receiver Rashee Rice, and other teams will undoubtedly need the final piece to the puzzle to get them over the top.
Cooper, 30, isn’t off to his best start, but he’s suffered at times from a struggling quarterback in Deshaun Watson, who’s missed open receivers and been off-target on plenty of throws. Through five games, Cooper leads the Browns with 20 catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns, with the receptions tied for 44th in the NFL and the yards 57th. He also dropped two sure-TD passes in the first two games, and ran an errant route on the game-winning attempt in Las Vegas two weeks ago.
But teams know what Cooper can do, and will take the woes of the Browns last-ranked offense into account. In his first two seasons here, he became the first Browns receiver to notch back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons, and set the franchise single-game receiving mark last year with 265 yards.
In the meantime, Cooper believes Watson can still play winning football
“Just knowing him, knowing how he prepares, knowing his mindset, knowing just the type of person and player he is,” Cooper said. “I definitely do feel that way. Again, obviously we’ve gotten off to a start that we didn’t necessarily want to get off to, but we still have a lot of time to turn things around. I believe we’ll do that.
Cooper knows just what to do at a time like this to best support his QB.
“Just go out there and try to play your best,he said. “That’s my role in that. Nothing else really matters. All the words, all the talking, things of that nature. Just want to play as well as I can to make his job easy.
He revealed that the Browns have made changes this week, and have a theme in mind as they try to snap their three-game losing skid.
“One of the things that Coach Kev was emphasizing is that we need a spark,” he said. “It could come from anywhere. They’re definitely doing some things to try to create that spark that. Again I won’t divulge. That’s definitely an emphasis for sure.”
He acknowledged that the players, who have had players-only meetings, have shared their thoughts with the coaches this week on jumpstarting the offense, just as Watson said they would after the 34-13 loss to the Commanders.
“It’s like I alluded to earlier, it’s nothing that I can necessarily share or give away right now, but of course Cooper said The players want to win, the coaches want to win. So conversations have been had on things that we can do to get us closer to winning
Cooper noted that confidence and momentum begin with a victory, which of course won’t be easy during their third straight road game and four of their last five
Now what will get us to the win?” he said. “Again, the same thing that we’ve been preaching. Going out there practicing, executing in practice, practicing like we’re a winning team, we’re a team that wants to win. Doing all the right things, doing a little bit extra in every aspect of our daily lives as football players, whether that’s watching more film, getting more treatment, taking care of the body a little bit more. Just a little bit extra in everything.”
Cooper, who re-dedicated himself to practicing at a game-like tempo after his bad first two games, plans to give it everything he has on Sunday to start the streak. The Browns practiced at an up-tempo pace in the early part open to the media on Thursday, and everyone looked locked in.
“It’s the easiest thing in the world to do, to jump off the ship when it’s sinking,” Cooper said. “I don’t even consider myself that type of person. That’s what people who aren’t dedicated do. That’s what people who aren’t committed do. Things get hard sometimes. You’ve just have to fight your way through it. I’m a fighter. I know the guys on his team, they’re fighters and that’s what fighters do until the end, fight until the end. So that’s what we’re going to do
And if they fight hard enough, Cooper just might still be a Brown after Nov. 5.
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