The Browns Must Make A Choice At Wide Receiver
Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Browns’ wide receiver room looks to be one of the better ones in football in 2024. After this season, though, it might be a different story. Andrew Berry will be forced to make some big decisions going forward, and the time to make that call might come before training camp even starts.
Amari Cooper and Elijah Moore are both due new contracts after this season, and it’s hard to see a path forward where both players are on the roster heading into 2025. So who should the Browns keep? Let’s take a look at what player makes sense long-term for Cleveland.
The Browns traded for Moore before the 2023 season, as Cleveland coveted him in the 2021 Draft, before the New York Jets sniped him with the 34th overall pick. In Moore’s first couple of years with the Jets, he dealt with bad quarterback play but still showed some flashes of being a really good receiver, were he in the proper system.
During training camp last season, Moore was used all over the field, including out of the backfield, and there was a buzz about how he could raise the level of Cleveland’s offense. Statistically, Moore had the best season of his NFL career, catching 59 passes for 640 yards and two touchdowns. Even though it was his best season, he didn’t have as big of an impact on the Browns offense as the coaching staff or fans hoped. The hope is Moore will take a big step forward this season. Even with a huge year in 2024, he will still be the cheaper option of the two.
On the other side of this debate is Amari Cooper, who has been an anchor in the Browns offense for the last two seasons. Last season, while Moore struggled to get his footing, Cooper caught 72 passes for 1,250 yards and five touchdowns. Cooper hasn’t attended any offseason workouts this offseason, and he has made clear that he wants a contract extension before he reports back. When the news first came out that Cooper wanted a long-term contract, it seemed that a deal would get done quickly, based on comments from inside the organization. However, that was a few months ago and it doesn’t appear the two sides are any closer to a deal.
A couple of months ago, Berry made it clear that Cooper was part of the long-term plans, and he believed a deal would be done.
“What I will say about Amari is since he’s been a member of the Cleveland Browns, he’s obviously been a high-level, Pro Bowl-caliber receiver,” Berry said, via NFL Media. “But he’s also a great teammate and he’s a great professional. We’re happy to have him as a member of the organization.
“All teams will have periods where they go through this type of situation, but it does not change our affinity for Amari. We’ll navigate the business considerations and the business aspects as they go, but he is a big part of our team, and just as important, he’s a big part of our culture.”
The Browns’ decision comes down to a couple of key principles. They can pay Cooper a much bigger contract, but they should feel pretty confident about what they will be getting out of him. On the other hand, they can sign Moore to a cheaper contract but are also probably taking a bigger risk.
A couple of months ago, the answer long-term for the Browns would clearly have been Cooper, but based on the long-term deal not happening yet, Moore increasingly has a case to be the better answer. Cooper is 30 years old and he might be asking for way more than the Browns should pay, especially with Deshaun Watson’s $46 million cap hit on the books.
Even though the stats didn’t jump off the page last season, Moore’s stats should jump if Cooper doesn’t re-join the team. He might not move into the No. 1 with Jerry Jeudy in the fold, but Moore’s poised to have an important role nonetheless. Moore still has the talent to take that step forward, and on a much cheaper contract, he could end up being a steal a few years later. In a best-case scenario, the Browns somehow find a way to keep both in 2025, but it’s hard to imagine that happens. If one has to leave town, Cooper is looking Moore and Moore like the odd man out.
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