Browns’ Amari Cooper breaks silence by saying the obvious issue between him and Cleveland right now
Even though things are quiet right now for the Cleveland Browns, does not mean work is not going on behind the scenes. The Browns have an issue on their hands that needs to be addressed before the season and that issue is that Amari Cooper wants to be paid. Cooper was a holdout during mandatory […]
Even though things are quiet right now for the Cleveland Browns, does not mean work is not going on behind the scenes.
The Browns have an issue on their hands that needs to be addressed before the season and that issue is that Amari Cooper wants to be paid. Cooper was a holdout during mandatory minicamp a couple of weeks ago and will enter training camp at the end of the month wanting a new contract.
Cooper hasn’t really said much since then, until now. The star wide receiver can be seen in the video below saying “I’m trying to get paid this year,” when challenged to a race during a video made by the sports betting app Betr.
During the video, Cooper says he’s not trying to get injured since he is trying to get paid. An injury right now would likely derail any contract talks, especially if it was anything significant. Teams around the NFL are very keyed in on players staying healthy when they’re away from the team during the summer for training camp. That is one of the single biggest worries that teams have is when players go away following mandatory minicamp.
All signs point toward the Browns and Cooper figuring this thing out. With the recent spike in wide receiver contracts, Cooper is underpaid. He isn’t a Justin Jefferson and he’s not going to be at the top of the market, but he is worth more than the $20 million APY that his current contract gave him. In the final year of that five-year, $100 million deal that he signed with the Dallas Cowboys a few years ago, it is fair to see why Cooper wants future security.
Cleveland needs Cooper and having to trade him would be a big knock to the team. A two-year deal is what eventually seems like the Browns and Cooper will come to an agreement on. Now entering his age-30 season, Cooper is still at the top of his game and he showed that with a career-high 1,250 receiving yards last season.
Cooper is a key part of the passing attack and the Browns are all in on making that attack work. Cleveland needs Deshaun Watson to turn the corner and he’s going to need his top wideout to do so. The Browns traded for and then inked Jerry Jeudy to a contract extension this year, but Cooper has proven to be the dependable top option for Cleveland the last couple of seasons.
At some point soon, Cooper and the Browns will fix things and none of this will matter. But for now, Cooper has one thing on his mind and that is getting paid.
NFL writer projects that Browns’ Deshaun Watson will have the exact season that the team has been waiting for
Best case scenario for Cleveland.
