Cleveland Browns WR Amari Cooper is looking for his second big payday, and technically his first from the Browns. Drafted by the Oakland Raiders in 2015, the Dallas Cowboys traded for him in 2018. In 2020, they signed him to a five-year, $100 million contract, which the Browns inherited in 2022.
Cooper is playing out the final year of five-year contract with a $20 million salary. And with that cash in-pocket, he held out of mandatory minicamp seeking a new deal. Virtually every other player seeking a new deal did report to their respective camps, signaling the significance of the impasse.
Even Cameron Heyward showed up before the end of OTAs, the guy whose wife vomited over the very idea of him playing for the Browns. And Cooper wants to spend the rest of his career in Cleveland—provided they pay him.
Even head coach Kevin Stefanski deflected at the end of minicamp when asked about Cooper’s status. Regarding his expectations for getting the contract stand-off resolved in time for training camp, he said that he was “a day-to-day guy”. He also offered, “We’ll have maybe an update when we get back. We’ll talk about it, but I have no news on that”.
We later found out why, as days later, reports surfaced about the status of those negotiations. Reportedly, while the Browns were willing to meet Amari Cooper’s financial demands, they would not meet his long-term security demands. They only offered a one-year extension for the veteran wide receiver while he is likely looking for at least three.
In the past two seasons playing for the Browns, Cooper has 150 receptions for 2,410 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those numbers are even more remarkable when you consider the laundry list of quarterbacks involved.
Under 50 of those receptions came from Deshaun Watson, for example, and just four touchdowns. Cooper caught 25 passes for 485 yards with three touchdowns from Joe Flacco last year. He caught passes from P.J. Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Jacoby Brissett in that time as well.
It doesn’t help that the Browns have struggled to draft and develop wide receivers, on top of everything else. They continue to trade for the position, adding Elijah Moore last year and Jerry Jeudy this year. Both of them pale in comparison to Cooper’s career achievements, though, and aren’t likely to catch up.
Amari Cooper hasn’t necessarily been the home-run type at wide receiver, precision in his craft more his calling card. From that point of view, he’s arguably less susceptible to a sharp decline due to age.
Nevertheless, he is going into his 10th season, and is already 30 years old. Teams start questioning who they are going to pay and for how long when they get to this stage. They are confident that Cooper can continue to play at a high level through 2025, but 2026? 2027? At least as of now, they are not willing to go that far. And if they don’t, Cooper might not go to training camp. He can afford the fines.
