The Browns wrapping their Amari Cooper negotiations without an extension places Jerry Jeudy as the team’s long-term centerpiece at wide receiver. The recent trade acquisition, who received $41MM guaranteed at signing, is locked in through 2027. Cooper, 30, received $5MM in incentives but is positioned to play for a new contract this season.
In guaranteeing Cooper $20MM in 2024 — money he was almost definitely going to see once his salary became guaranteed in early September — the Browns moved $18.79MM of his salary into a signing bonus, KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson notes, with two void years added. If Cooper is not extended by the start of the 2025 league year, the Browns would incur a $22.6MM dead money hit. For 2024, however, Cleveland created $15MM in cap space, per Spotrac. Despite skipping minicamp, Cooper said he was not considering a training camp holdout.
“Honestly, it wasn’t really about money,” Cooper said, via the Akron Beacon Journal’s Chris Easterling. “It was more so in the language of my contract when I signed a five-year deal with the Cowboys. Only two years is guaranteed. This is the last year of that deal, but it isn’t guaranteed until the week of the first game.”
This agreement seems a small victory for a player of Cooper’s caliber, especially after the former first-rounder established a new career-high in receiving yards (1,250) to help a depleted offense last season. The Browns have an added motivation to extend Cooper before next March now, with the looming void year-driven cap penalty working in his favor.
Here is the latest from Cleveland and the rest of the AFC North:
- Greg Newsome began Browns camp on the active/NFI list, and Kevin Stefanski shed some light on why. The fourth-year cornerback underwent hamstring surgery Thursday, and cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot notes the team hopes to have him back by Week 1. Newsome landing on the NFI list as opposed to the PUP list indicates he sustained the injury away from the team’s facility. Stefanski did not specify when the injury occurred. Dalvin Tomlinson, who is on the Browns’ active/PUP list, is set for arthroscopic knee surgery Friday. The team hopes, per Easterling, the veteran DT is back by Week 1. Tomlinson and the Browns decided this week surgery would be necessary. Both players were key starters for Jim Schwartz‘s No. 1-ranked defense last season.
- Third-year Ravens O-lineman Daniel Faalele‘s best shot to start this season may come at right guard. Despite being a tackle fill-in during his first two seasons, the 6-foot-8, 380-pound blocker is being given extensive work at RG, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec (subscription required). Faalele is primarily competing with Ben Cleveland and Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu at RG, per Zrebiec. John Harbaugh said the Ravens will move O-linemen around during camp, as Cleveland saw tackle reps this offseason, but the 17th-year HC confirmed the team is giving Faalele a shot to be a rather tall guard early in camp. It would also not surprise to see Faalele be given a shot at right tackle, where he played 157 snaps last season. Baltimore needs three new O-line starters after guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson leaving in free agency and the team trading Morgan Moses to the Jets.
- Eddie Jackson‘s Ravens deal is a one-year pact worth $1.5MM, Wilson notes. The longtime Bears starter received $1MM guaranteed. While this is a steep reduction from Jackson’s previous Chicago extension (four years, $58.4MM), he is far from the only experienced safety to accept a significant pay cut this offseason.
- Tyler Matakevich‘s Steelers contract will be worth the veteran minimum, Wilson adds. The ninth-year linebacker will be due $1.21MM in base salary, but the team has not guaranteed its former seventh-rounder anything.