The Browns and Amari Cooper Rework Deal to Stay in Cleveland

Browns WR Amari Cooper was an early training camp holdout participant as he missed the first round of OTAs awaiting a new contract. Cooper, 30, is coming off a career year in Cleveland reeling in 72 catches on 122 targets with 1,250 yards and 5 TDs. He broke the record for most receiving yards in a single game in Cleveland Browns history during the Browns/Texans game in Week 16 with 265 yards on only 11 receptions.

While an extension did not come to fruition, The Browns and Cooper agreed to a deal during the day Tuesday that would keep Cooper in Cleveland for the 2024 season by converting the 20 million left on his contract to fully guaranteed while also adding a chance to earn up to 5 million extra in incentives. As of Thursday morning, The Browns converted $18.79M of WR Amari Cooper’s base salary into signing bonus, adding two additional void years, clearing $15.032M of cap space in 2024.

Cooper is now fully guaranteed his previous $20M salary, with $5M of additional incentives available. Cleveland would take on a $22.5M dead hit next March if Cooper’s contract is voided next season. This move confirms that Cooper will be at the Greenbrier in West Virginia this week.

Deshaun Watson was asked about his connection with the standout WR during his 7 on 7 tournament at Archbishop Akron Hoban High School.

 

#Browns Deshaun Watson said his connection with Amari Cooper during this break has been good. Watson hosted his informal passing camp for teammates last week in Florida: pic.twitter.com/C5MNlE674V

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) July 17, 2024

Amari Cooper will now become an unrestricted free agent after this season, while this doesn’t mean they won’t later re-sign him to an extension either during the season or the next off-season. I believe the Browns feel comfortable not locking Cooper down for the future primarily because of the young pass catchers they currently have on their roster such as Elijah Moore, Jerry Jeudy, Jamari Thrash, and Cedric Tillman.