Browns receiver Amari Cooper is missing at mandatory minicamp, and it feels like a big deal. Cooper’s team is installing a new offense under new offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey this offseason. His quarterback needs reps with starters while recovering from season-ending shoulder surgery. And Cooper’s absence feels out of character considering his reputation as a no-nonsense, professional clock puncher.
But character doesn’t count at the bank, and Cooper only counts one year remaining on the five-year, $100 million deal he signed in 2020. He’ll make $23.77 million in 2024, which feels low in a market where 11 receivers average $24 million per year. And he’ll want his next contract to reflect his status as one of the league’s top pass catchers.
Or, as quarterback Deshaun Watson put it:
“He’s the best in the game,” Watson said Tuesday. “I believe that. He’s shown it each and every year. He’s shown it the last two years with different quarterbacks. So I think you’ve got to put him up there, if not the best.”
I wouldn’t take Cooper over Justin Jefferson, who signed the largest non-quarterback contract (four years, $110 million) in the league last week. But the Browns’ top target did rank 10th in receiving yards last season despite playing 15 games and catching passes from four different quarterbacks. He did tally more yards than seven of the 10 receivers with higher average annual salaries last season. And while the Browns might feel (understandably) antsy about paying bigger, longer-term money to a 31-year-old player, Cooper might reply, “not my problem.”
Or at least, not as big a problem as Cleveland’s if it loses its best playmaker.
Life without Cooper would mean life without the first Browns receiver in team history to record consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. It would force Cleveland to live without a pass catcher who has recorded a 1,000-yard season during their career (not that such a distinction stopped the Browns from paying Jerry Jeudy $41 million guaranteed earlier this offseason). It would make life harder on Watson, which is no life for a franchise that staked its reputation and future on him.
The more you think about it, the more Cooper sounds like a player Cleveland can’t afford to live without.
In the contract negotiation biz, they call Cooper’s importance “leverage,” of which the veteran receiver has plenty over his bosses. The Browns will struggle to create enough cap space next offseason to sign a receiver of Cooper’s caliber in free agency. They won’t have time to wait on a rookie to develop into the reliable star Cooper has been for a decade. And I doubt they’ll want to sacrifice another high draft pick (or two) in a trade for another star receiver who, by the way, would either already command the contract Cooper desires or ask for one soon after arriving.
They won’t have to if they pay the star they already have, though. Cooper may be aging, but his game has always relied more on technical skill than athletic prowess. His production remains consistent enough that Cleveland can time it to a watch. Plus, his maturity offers peace of mind at a position that has historically produced high-maintenance players.
Cooper shelves the moody sideline shots for great catches and the celebration penalties — zero taunting or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in 10 NFL seasons — for crucial third-down conversions. But he doesn’t do either for less than his market rate, particularly considering this might be his last chance to cash in on a great career.
Cooper sent that message quietly during the first day of minicamp, even if his absence felt loud. He won’t give any incendiary quotes concerning his contract during the next few months. He’ll just leave his timecard unpunched and let the Browns sample life without their most reliable receiver.
Cleveland’s new offense didn’t feel whole without Cooper on Tuesday. Its receiving corps didn’t look as sure handed. And its quarterback didn’t look as comfortable without the target he compares the best in the league.
The best solution to each problem?
Feels like a big deal for the missing pass catcher.
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