Browns Trade Pitch Reunites Deshaun Watson With Proven $40 Million Deep Threat.
The Cleveland Browns acquired a top-tier wide receiver through a trade with the Dallas Cowboys, and GM Andrew Berry might make it two-for-two in dealings with flamboyant owner Jerry Jones.
Deshaun Watson reached out to recruit Tee Higgins, a free agency wideout from the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North Division. While such option has a slim chance of succeeding and may depend on the quarterback agreeing to a price cut, a trade to assist the Cowboys clear some cash off their books appears more likely.
On Monday, January 29, Bleacher Report’s NFL Scouting Department released an offseason trade advisory for Cleveland and Dallas. The book identified wide receiver Brandin Cooks as a potential trade asset for both teams. The deal would reunite Watson and Cooks, who had a strong year together with the Houston Texans in 2020.
[The Cowboys] would save $4 million on the cap by trading away the veteran, and they paid a low draft price for him last year anyhow.
Some of Cooks’ best work in Houston came in 2020 when he had Deshaun Watson throwing him the football. Now the Browns are desperate to make sure that Watson proves to be worthy of the trade package and compensation they gave up for him. If reuniting the two would do the trick, it has to be a consideration.
BR’s pitch flips Cooks to the Browns in return for two fifth-round picks in 2024 (No. 134 overall) and 2025.
Browns Struck Gold by Trading With Cowboys for WR Amari Cooper.
Dallas could actually save $8 million in 2024 by trading Cooks after June 1, adding another $2 million in savings in 2025 by waiting until summer to make the move.
Cleveland doesn’t need to hurry, as the franchise could easily wait for history to repeat itself.
“The Dallas Cowboys need to generate cap space and could look to do so by dealing one of their secondary wide receivers,” BR wrote Monday. “The Cowboys dealt Amari Cooper just two years ago to make room in the No. 1 role for CeeDee Lamb, and now, Lamb is extension-eligible.”
It was the Browns who benefited from Jones’ choice to trade Cooper. Berry becomes the team’s top wide receiver in 2022 for the expense of only one fifth-round pick and a sixth-round pick trade.
Cooper has led the Browns in receiving in two consecutive seasons, earning his sixth Pro Bowl berth in 2023 with 72 catches for 1,250 yards and 5 touchdowns, according to Pro Football Reference.
Ironically, BR also listed Cooper as among the Browns’ top trade candidates in the 2024 offseason. The wideout’s expendability is tied only to the money he is owed on the final year of his $100 million contract, which carries a salary cap hit just shy of $24 million next season.
Cooper, however, has proven invaluable to the Browns. As such, dealing him is an unlikely outcome. But extending the 29-year-old receiver makes some sense, in that doing so will allow Cleveland to push off some of his cost to the future while keeping its top pass-catcher for whatever remains of the team’s contention window.
Brandin Cooks Can Help Deshaun Watson, Browns Offense Push Ball Downfield
Cooks would be a wonderful addition to the Browns’ offensive identity, not only for a return to the playoffs but also for the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance.
Cleveland wants to pass the ball more often and further downfield. The team enjoyed success playing that way under Joe Flacco during the last third of the 2023 campaign and will likely want to recreate it whenever Watson recovers from season-ending shoulder surgery in November.
Cooks can certainly offer help in that regard. The 10-year NFL veteran has six 1,000-plus seasons on his resumé and has hauled in 57 career TD passes. He made 81 catches for 1,150 yards and 8 TDs with Watson as his QB in 2020. Watson led the league in passing that season, his third consecutive Pro-Bowl campaign, with 4,823 yards.
Before making any substantial moves, the Browns must evaluate their unpleasant salary cap realities, particularly Watson’s $230 million contract that goes through 2026. As of Monday, Cleveland’s books show a $20.5 million loss for the franchise in 2024.
Even if Berry and company can get Cooks for a decent trade price, his contract will not be cheap. The wideout is in the final season of a two-year, $39.8 million contract with a cap charge of $10 million in 2024.
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