The Cleveland Browns have a loaded salary cap sheet heading into 2024, but an essential player like Amari Cooper can often convince a front office to take a crash course in financial gymnastics.

Whoever the Browns start at quarterback next season — Deshaun Watson or Joe Flacco — that man is going to need a No. 1 downfield target. Cooper has been an outright steal for Cleveland over the past two seasons, after general manager Andrew Berry surrendered just two fifth-round picks and a sixth-round swap to land the wide receiver from the Dallas Cowboys.

The final three seasons of Cooper’s $100 million contract were well bought, as he has amassed 150 receptions for 2,410 yards and 14 touchdowns across 32 of a possible 33 games played, per Pro Football Reference.

Marcus Mosher of Pro Football Focus recently examined pressing questions for all 32 NFL teams, positioning what to do with Cooper’s contract among the Browns’ top decisions of the 2024 offseason.

“Cooper has been exceptional for the Browns, and it’s time to start considering a contract extension,” Mosher wrote on December 15. “Cooper will turn 30 this offseason, making a long-term deal riskier. Still, Cooper has been a phenomenal addition for the Browns. Cooper has graded above 70.0 in each of the last two seasons.”

Amari Cooper Has Played His Way into New Contract from Browns

Cooper’s cap number is nearly $24 million in 2024, which has previously put the wideout on the list of likely cap casualties in Cleveland for the coming offseason.

The Browns can save $20 million by cutting or trading the receiver after June 1 — a financial boon for a team as strapped for cash as Cleveland is heading into next season and beyond, particularly due to the $230 million, fully-guaranteed albatross that is Watson’s contract hanging around the franchise’s neck for the next three years.

However, Cooper’s production with Watson and Jacoby Brissett under center in 2022 and his ability to excel with Flacco late this season have changed the contract math on nine-year NFL veteran.

Elijah Moore has proven the Browns’ second-most accomplished wideout in 2023 with 59 grabs for 640 yards and 2 scores. While respectable, Moore doesn’t have the physical attributes to play regularly on the outside against the best cover cornerbacks opposing defenses have to offer and produce anywhere near the rate Cooper has over the past two seasons.

Furthermore, Moore is coming off a concussion last Thursday night against the New York Jets that landed him in the hospital and has at least one prominent doctor suggesting he retire from professional football.

Cooper’s play, the lack of pass-catching talent in the wide receiver room behind him and the Browns’ current success as an 11-5 team bound for the playoffs have combined to transform Cooper from a playmaker too expensive for the Browns to keep into one the franchise can’t afford to lose.

Amari Cooper, Browns Can Work Together to Make New Contract Feasible

The biggest complication for the Browns in bringing Cooper back into the fold on a multiyear deal is how to work it with their current salary cap situation.

Cleveland must clear nearly $13 million in 2024 just to get out of the red, while Cooper’s projected market value is $23.3 million over a new three-year deal, according to Spotrac. The wideout’s $23.8 million cap hit next season is second on the roster only to Watson’s, which comes in just shy of $64 million.

Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac predicted on December 27 that the Browns will bring back Flacco on a two-year deal worth $12 million total this offseason, which further complicates the team’s money problems.

However, he also guessed that Cleveland will convert Watson’s base salary into a signing bonus, which will free up $36 million in cap room. That total will cover the cost Flacco’s first year, get the Browns out of the red on their cap sheet and leave north of $16 million in operating room.

Of course, there will be other players and contracts to consider. However, if Cooper is willing to work with the franchise to remain in a city where he is respected, wanted and has had considerable success, the two sides can come to an agreement on an extension that drops the receiver’s cap number in 2024 while still benefiting him with considerably more guaranteed money over a multiyear deal.

That arrangement makes too much sense for the franchise and Cooper not to pursue in the coming offseason, possibly coming off of a Super Bowl run over the next several weeks.