The Cleveland Browns are going nowhere fast with Deshaun Watson under center, which has kicked off an old-fashioned fire sale. Amari Cooper, who is still one of the better outside receivers in the AFC, was one of the best available players for a team like the Buffalo Bills.
The Browns traded Cooper to Buffalo, giving a contender a No. 1 wide receiver they can trust while signaling that Cleveland has all but waived the white flag on the 2024 season. The time has come to sell off spare parts in the name of draft capital.
The Browns got a third-round pick and a seventh-rounder for Cooper (who likely was not going to be on the team beyond this season anyway) and a sixth round pick, all while getting off a big chunk of money owed to him. If the Browns are starting a rebuild, this move could kick-start proceedings.
Amari Cooper is a Buffalo Bill‼️https://t.co/Ilbmxum2sf | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/Y7bJ2SPhwg
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 15, 2024
Full trade details after Browns trade Amari Cooper to Bills
Cooper will give the Bills a boost. Buffalo currently has Khalil Shakir and rookie Keon Coleman as some of their top pass-catchers, and Cooper will help the Bills put some distance between themselves and the rest of the AFC East. Still, the Browns have a better long-term outlook as a result of this deal.
Cooper has caught 24 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns this season. While anyone with a functioning brain can see that Watson is holding him back right now, it’s also unlikely that a 30-year-old wide receiver is going to suddenly start looking like he did during his prime in Dallas.
Cleveland will need to pull off the nigh-impossible task of building a winner while tiptoeing around the Watson nightmare contract. While tough, the best way to do that is to load up on as many draft picks as possible and hope to land a few big fish in April. Getting more cracks at it should be a worthwhile endeavor.
The Bills may have gotten the No. 1 receiver they wanted for Josh Allen, but they were able to give the Browns some very meaningful assets in exchange. Cleveland is in a very bad place, but this could help them slowly drag their way out of it. At least Cooper landed with a better quarterback.
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