The Kansas City Chiefs were waiting to hear if Rashee Rice would miss the remainder of the 2024 season before deciding on their next move at wide receiver. Now that it’s clear he will, the pursuit of a veteran trade makes more and more sense for KC.
Fortunately, there are underperforming teams that could match up as sellers at the trade deadline — like the 1-4 Cleveland Browns.
A-to-Z Sports reporters Charles Goldman (Chiefs coverage) and Brandon Little (Browns coverage) put together a “hypothetical trade proposal” between Kansas City and Cleveland on October 9. And it was fairly simple.
- Chiefs get: WR Amari Cooper.
- Browns get: 2025 third-round pick (via Tennessee Titans).
It’s not the first time the former Las Vegas Raiders first rounder and KC rival has been suggested as a trade option for the Chiefs. After signing a five-year, $100 million extension with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, Cooper was later traded to the Browns in 2022.
He’s now playing out the final year of that massive 2020 extension in Cleveland and is on the books for an $8.744 million cap hit in 2024 and a $22.5-plus million cap hit in 2025 (void year) — but the Browns would be on the hook for the large majority of that according to Spotrac co-founder Michael Ginnitti.
Statistically speaking, Cooper’s numbers have dipped a bit in 2024, but the Browns’ quarterback play hasn’t been great. Through five games, the 30-year-old has accumulated 20 catches for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns — an average of 41.6 yards per game.
KC Reporter Explains Chiefs-Browns Trade Proposal for Amari Cooper
Within the article, Goldman rationalized this trade from a KC perspective.
“I don’t think Brett Veach would pass on the opportunity to acquire a receiver that could help uplift an offense,” he wrote. “They lost the two players who were expected to have the vast majority of the team’s receptions and yards this season. They also lost them in five weeks and it’s a long season.”
“The reality is that those won’t be the last injury challenges they face on offense this year,” Goldman continued. “They need to add top-end talent, but they also must create depth on an injury-depleted roster.”
To the A-to-Z Sports reporter, Cooper makes “a ton of sense” because he’s a rental. He also makes sense financially.
“From a financial perspective, this is a no-brainer move for Kansas City,” Goldman explained. “Cooper would cost just over $941K to acquire [being that his 2024 salary was converted into a signing bonus].”
The #Browns converted all but $1.21M of WR Amari Cooper’s 2024 salary into signing bonus, making him an extremely affordable trade candidate.
Now: $941,111
Deadline: $605,000
As for the return, Goldman figured that since “the cost for Cooper [in 2022] was a 2022 fifth-round draft pick and a 2022 sixth-round draft pick,” it could be slightly higher now being that the veteran is “coming off of back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons with an abysmal quarterback situation in Cleveland.” He’s also much cheaper in 2024 than in 2022.
All this led Goldman to conclude that he’d “willingly send the Chiefs’ own third-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft,” but in reality, he also acknowledged that the Browns might ask for Tennessee’s third — which KC currently owns the rights to — since they’re already paying the majority of his contract.
Browns Perspective on Trading Amari Cooper to Chiefs
On the flip side, Little spoke on this trade pitch from a Browns perspective.
“The time has come when it makes sense for the Cleveland Browns to start thinking about trading wide receiver Amari Cooper,” he began. “Just a year ago it never could have been pictured ending like this, but now it appears it may be the move that makes sense for both sides.”
Little’s reasoning revolved around the 1-4 start, a “very tough schedule the rest of the way” and the fact that Cooper “looks completely checked out in Cleveland.” Not to mention his contract situation and the likelihood of him leaving in free agency next March.
“If this is going to be a lost season for the Browns, they’re going to have to find out what they have in some other wideouts,” he said. “Perhaps putting Jerry Jeudy in a bigger role and getting better looks at Cedric Tillman and Jamari Thrash happen.”
Little also noted that Cleveland will need as much draft capital as possible as they embark on yet another rebuild in 2025.
